Humboldt County Man in Prison for Murder Dead Under Suspicious Circumstances
Jesse Rippee
Pelican Bay State Prison authorities are investigating the death of Joshua E. Kirtley who was in prison for the 1998 murder of Paul Sanders at a marijuana grow in the Southern Humboldt area. Staff found 42-year-old Kirtley deceased in his cell on October 17. Jesse A. Rippee, Kirtley’s cellmate, who was in the recreation yard when Kirtley was found has been placed in segregation while the investigation is ongoing.
Kirtley was accused of beating and killing Sanders over a missing $5000. Sanders’ girlfriend reported him missing a few days after he disappeared. He was listed as missing.
However, Sanders’ body was recovered in June of 2003 after Kirtley was jailed on domestic violence charges and, Kirtley’s mother-in-law at the time told law enforcement about his involvement in the murder of Sanders. A man who was also charged in Sanders’ death led deputies to his remains.
The first trial ended in a hung jury but Kirtley’s second trial resulted in an conviction and sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Below is a press release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation about Kirtley’s death. The information has not been proven in a court of law and any individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:
Officials at Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) are investigating the death of 42-year-old inmate Joshua E. Kirtley as a homicide.
On Oct. 17 at approximately 12:30 p.m., prison staff during a security check discovered Kirtley unresponsive in his cell. Staff immediately responded, called 911 and began life-saving measures.
Kirtley was transported to PBSPs medical clinic and staff continued medical aid. Paramedics transported him to an outside hospital and he was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m.
Jesse A Rippee, Kirtley’s cellmate, was on the recreation yard when Kirtley was found. Rippee had multiple injuries, including facial swelling, scratches and bruises. He was treated at the prison and then placed in segregated housing as PBSP’s Investigative Services Unit continues its investigation. The Office of the Inspector General was notified.
Kirtley was received on July 28, 2004 from Humboldt County. He was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder.
Rippee was received on Sept. 24, 2015 from Los Angeles County, sentenced to 10 years for first-degree burglary, a second strike offense. While in prison, he was sentenced to an additional 15 years in 2017 for assault by a prisoner with a deadly weapon or force likely to cause great bodily injury.
PBSP, located in Del Norte County, houses more than 2,300 minimum-, medium-, and maximum-security inmates. The institution provides high school and college academic classes, career technical education, work assignments, self-help programs, arts-in-corrections, computer literacy and other rehabilitation programs that address substance use disorders, anger management and family relationships. The institution opened in 1989.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
Came full circle after 16 years 🎯
Yep, sometimes life is good.
No fucking way. Josh was my pinochle partner in 2003 2004 in Humboldt county jail. He went to trial for the midst of sanders a pot grower in southern Humboldt. Kirtley is from north Carolina with a thick accent. He moved to Humboldt to t and fell in love with the life style. He only lived there couple years. Kenneth wolfe turned states evjdence against him and told the cops he helped kirtley bury the body and would take the cops to it for a lesser sentence. Riddle clanton who was my lawyer at the time was representing wolfe. Wolfe said he only helped bury the body cause he felt kirtley would kill him if he didn’t help. Kirtley stepmom said she saw josh burn sanders clothes in the fire place and saved some burnt clothes as evidence. He actually got a hung jury. One juror was not convinced he was guilty. The refiled and tried him again. What ever happened to double jepoedau. Anyway this time all 12 jurors found him guilty. He got to San quentin badger block a month after I got to San quentin and I saw him there briefly. He was a level 4 and I was 2. He was easy to get along with. Always happy and laughing considering. A lot of people responding to this have no clue what it’s like inside and should not speak about it. I mean if u don’t know one of these guys and you have not been to prison what the hell are you even doing reading this. Pathetic. You just read about and watch on TV the stuff we so I. Real life. You will never get closer to anyone in ur entire life then your cellmate. Not ur mom ur wife nobody you spend 23 hours a day sometimes for years living and shitting in a room the size of a gas station bathroom. I don’t think his cellmate did it. I’m assuming it was on B yard which is the heaviest yard at the bay. I’ve been to the bay and how do the guards miss this during two counts and how does his cell mate get to yard and not josh. The biggest gang in every prison isn’t the Mexican mafia or the surrenos or the nazi low riders or the AB it’s the guards
Yes I believe this too and yep it was on B yard.
Josh is my dad and I agree 1000%
How is your dad’s best friend from elementary school until he moved to California
Paul was NOT a pot grower. I was his G.F. at the time of his murder and he barely ever has any money. He was just a ‘low man’ that got bossed around to clean up after Josh and everyone else did their harvest. Josh lived in a nice big house while Paul lived in a tiny drafty cabin. You think Josh did not kill Paul? It was his $5,000 that was missing and he thought Paul did it. I also know Kenny. Kenny never beat his girlfriend like Josh did.
Jesse is my cousin and had no idea this happened
Jesse would never have murdered Joshua. They were friends. You need to investigate and look into the fact that someone who wanted revenge on Joshua for murdering Paul Saunders did this. Where were the guards when they opened that cell door at 10Am? Did they not see Joshua lying there? The new ruling in the Prison stated that two correction officers were to open those doors and one was to escourt the prisoner to and from where ever they needed to go. How come Jesse went out to yard but Joshua did not? Are you telling me that Joshua was not seen or checked on for 2 and a half hours before they found him unresponsive at 12.30? That sounds like negligence of the Prison does it not? I would like someone to get to the bottom of this because you can not accuse an innocent man for murder when he has a life ahead of him. I know him – he is my fiance!
I agree with you and am sorry for what has happened. Take care.
Time to find a MAN who can help himself and isn’t a burden on your life maybe even someone not a convicted felon and possibly a murderer or maybe try a girlfriend idk.
WTF???
No compassion and he is a good man! He’s my son! If you don’t know the circumstances then zip it.
Innocent until proven guilty!!!!!!
I am so sorry for the loss of your son. Although he was in prison his death is unacceptable. Isn’t this a maximum security prison? Somebody seriously dropped the ball on this one. RIP
Hi Vickie it is but they are so short staffed most of the time. No wonder this happened. It’s negligence at the best!
Nasty mouth there, Jen. I doubt you would be happy if somebody spewed this stuff on you.
Just make it federal legal already. To many young people chasing the fictitious gold chain.
Was he your fiance before going to prison?
“Rippee had multiple injuries, including facial swelling, scratches and bruises.” Sure sounds like he was at least part of the beat-down. Add another strike for that and he just got a bowling turkey!!! 10 years for Burglary is about to turn into a permanent stay in the crossbar motel.
“Stimpy, it is much to nice of a day to be such an idiot!”
Looks like you’ll need to get a new fiance.
Wow sounds like a bunch of idiots talking out their ass.
Innocent until proven guilty,
What if my son was attacked and he defended himself, you don’t know shit!
🕯🌳It sounds more like prison politics than revenge.
Fiancé? How long are you going to wait for him?
10+15+? (& those tats) = ‘time to move on’
Just because he’s your fiancé doesn’t mean he’s innocent. Also, it isn’t uncommon for violent people to murder their “friends”. Let me guess, all of his charges were just a series of unfortunate events, and none of them were “his fault”? I mean, good on him if he owns his mistakes. But I digress….He was convicted in 2017 for attacking another inmate with a deadly weapon. Wonder what his first charge was before the burglary, since it was his second strike. Robbing and assaulting people is what violent people do. That being said, I will agree there was some major negligence on the part of PBSP–also, as a side note to Mom, if Jesse WAS defending himself and was any sort of “friend”, he would have gotten help for Kirtley.
Can’t believe this shit. Thats my lil bro. Dam jesse hope your good. If you happen to speak with him. Need to figure out how he can call me. Please keep me updated with his situation
Seems like parole is off the table
This is clearly an investigation worth spending countless taxpayer dollars on.
Sometimes bad things happen to terrible people.
Yes they should investigate; if there’s a possibility that Mr.Rippee might one day be released in the Emerald Triangle he could end up being one of our neighbors. Let’s just use those taxpayer dollars to rehabilitate him enough and others so they won’t continue the cycle of recidivism that is inherent to poverty and crime.
A successful investigation will likely keep him and others associated with this prison murder locked up a lot longer if not tease out a few interesting details linked to the outside world.
Use your higher thinking on this one.
You can’t be serious?
Serving time in prison has nothing to do with retraining or re-socializing. It is all about retribution. Paying for the crime to make the victims’ feel like justice has been done. Lock’em up and throw away the key. Even arrest and release should require restitution. America sends to prison more people than the entire rest of the world. And it DOESN’T work! Never has. Never will. Parents fail, education fails, chasing the dollar fails, disproportion of equity fails ( and that is getting worse). And forget religion! They might be the biggest supporters’ of punishment with their history of torturing, (including burning persons at the stake and drawing and quartering or worse), and the guilty to their death’s. And we wonder why the failures resort to crime and what that leads to. Count your luck you are not Blacks or Hispanics.
Angry much? Your choices are the only thing you own in this life You can choose to blame others for your ills. Or you can choose to look in the mirror
But i am blacks and hispanics!
I remember Paul. Nice guy.played pool at the grotto. I remember the facts. Worked for Rega. Beat with baseball bat then took a shotgun to him. Buried him. Kirtley’s not a nice guy. Been 22 years. Don’t think anyone of his people planned for revenge after this long. Pelican Bay being such a nice place and all. Good riddance
He was also my dad , and he was always encouraging me to do great things and made my day sometimes with just a letter. He wasn’t just a horrible person .. I’m sorry for your friend, but my dad didn’t deserve this…..
Good information about the inside police mafia corruption coupled with big tech money laundering on Babylon Destroyer Radio. You can find it on YouTube. It’s crazy how big tech stocks funnel meth and illegally seized marijuana money from police mafia.
Yes. It’s crazy.
Prison can be dangerous ! Mr. Butterworth
A matter of $20 and a hanging judge would certainly put a crimp in the recidivist rates and housing costs and put an end to the prison industrial complex.
I’ve heard your recommendation before. Out of sight out of mind.
Bravo!
Wow!!! I am seriously in awe of the judgemental, antagonistic attitude on here. No matter what that man did, whether it was self-defense or not, he is still that woman’s son. Are mothers supposed to turn their backs on their children when they make mistakes or get caught up in the wrong life, maybe even drugs? A mother’s love is unconditional. Do you have children? Is that how you will treat them? Raising them that your love has limits and conditions they have to follow in order to receive it? Also, does it really matter if he was her fiance before or after his prison sentence? I mean, do you really care about her and her life to make such mean and unsolicited comments? And lastly, let me tell you this, if you have never been in prison or had a loved one incarcerated, you have no idea what it’s like and really do not have an opinion. You think ghetto’s are rough? You have no idea about prison life. You think these guys go in there and are able to tell other guys running shit in there, no thank you sir, I’m here to do my time and change my life and the rest of the bad guys, the worst guys, just go, “oh, ok. We’re so sorry to bother you”. It’s not a fucking Elk’s Lodge meeting. So let me be a little judgemental…put your man bun up nice and tight, grab your loafers, make a run to Starbucks, then sit down with your iPhone and try to figure out that not everyone lives the life you lead. Maybe that makes you better than them, maybe it doesn’t. But I can tell you this, good men make mistakes, take lives….and bad men can have one shining moment where they truly help someone. What do you do for those in your community that you think you can sit so high in judgement of other people??? SMH…..grow up….
Bull Shit!!
What about his victims and the victims family of this animal? Inmates are not victims they are predators. simple. don’t commit crimes you will not go to prison. He got what was coming to him. If she is stupid enough to hook up with an inmate not sure what she expected him to be. Zero sympathy there
I did not ask for your sympathy. I love my man and I will ALWAYS be by his side no matter what! I feel sorry for your narrow mind. That you think that life is so cut and dry and that you don’t think that bad things happen to good people. You have no right to judge anyone till you walk a mile in their shoes. You would be saying differently if your life fell short and you ended up in the same situation. Get off your high horse. There are good hearts behind those walls.
I will miss my dad very much for the rest of my life he wasn’t perfect but he tried his best for his daughters …. I am going to miss getting calls and letters from him. My heart is broken without my dad and people should have more compassion and sympathy for things like this….
Dear Rose, your dad did a horrible thing, but he was a young man influenced by a horrible man (my father Rega). My heart is broken too as Josh truly was a victim as much as Paul was thanks to my dad. None of these men were perfect. There was always a hope he would redeem himself and lead a better life after prison. I had that hope for your dad. I will miss your dad’s letters and calls. He always expressed how much he loved his daughters and how much he missed you both and his dear parents. He always tried to be hopeful and positive on the phone. He looked to me as family, despite what my father had done to lead him to destroy his life. He had that sweet side that I will choose to remember him for. I’m so sorry for your family’s loss. May he Rest In Peace.
Lisa, that was a kind note. Thank you.