Murder suspect Ryan Anthony Tanner is scheduled for a preliminary hearing next month on 10 felony counts involving a separate alleged victim who claims Tanner kidnapped him and assaulted him with various weapons.
The reported crimes occurred in March and April of 2019, about a year before Tanner, now 34, was arrested and charged with murdering Jason Todd Garrett in an Ettersburg-area home.
In the case now set for preliminary hearing on Jan. 18, Tanner is accused of kidnapping, threatening and assaulting Devin Timothy Stebbins.
According to the criminal complaint, the 31-year-old Stebbins claims Tanner kidnapped and then falsely imprisoned him. During the episode, Stebbins reported, Tanner assaulted him with a sawed-off shotgun, a rifle, a sword and a hammer.
Tanner also is charged with battery with serious bodily injury and with threatening Stebbins with death or great bodily injury.
This morning, before Judge Larry Killoran, defense attorney Russ Clanton asked that the preliminary hearing be delayed until after Tanner’s murder trial. Clanton said the trial could go on for months and involves “one of the most complex homicide cases I have seen in many years.” He said he didn’t see the point of taking up the lesser case at this time.
But Deputy District Attorney Jessica Acosta said the kidnapping and assault case is aging, and as time goes on memories begin to fade. She expects to call “live” witnesses, meaning civilians rather than police officers, and predicted that “without interruptions,” the hearing will last a week. Preliminary hearings ordinarily take a few hours at most.
Tanner’s murder trial is scheduled for March 21. He has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. He allegedly forced Garrett into a bathtub and then shot him with an assault rifle. The body was found buried under a water tank on Tanner’s property.
PREVIOUSLY:
- HOMICIDE IN ETTERSBURG: Sheriff’s Office Arrests One After SWAT Operation Yesterday
- Investigators Locate Ettersberg Suspected Homicide Victim’s Remains
- Ettersburg Murder Suspect Enters Not Guilty Plea; Also Charged With Assaulting Two Other Men With AK-47
- Suspect in March Homicide Near Ettersburg is Sane Enough to Face Charges, Judge Rules
- Witness Describes Execution-Style Murder of a Man and Dog in a Bathtub During Ryan Tanner Prelim Hearing
- Ettersburg Murder Trial Delayed Until Next Week
- ETTERSBURG MURDER TRIAL: Main Prosecution Witness Garbles Testimony
- Witness Provides Gruesome, Hallucinatory Testimony in Ettersburg Murder Trial
- ETTERSBURG MURDER TRIAL: Girlfriend of the Accused Testifies That He Abused Her and Threatened Her With Death
- ETTERSBURG MURDER CASE: Another Neighbor Testifies That the Accused Had Been on a Paranoid, Violent Rampage for Weeks Before the Killing
- ETTERSBURG MURDER CASE: Another Witness Testifies That All Was Fine Between the Accused Murderer and the Victim on the Night of His Death
- ETTERSBURG MURDER CASE: Police Investigators Testify to the Discovery of the Body and Possible Murder Weapons
- ETTERSBURG MURDER CASE: Defense Attorney Grills Lead Detective, Attempts to Cast Doubt on Witnesses, Evidence, Investigation
- ETTERSBURG MURDER CASE: Prosecutors Play Jailhouse Phone Tapes for the Judge; Medical Examiner Testifies
- ETTERSBURG MURDER CASE: Judge Rules That Ryan Tanner Must Stand Trial For Murder
- ETTERSBURG MURDER CASE: Trial Date Set for May; Accused’s Laywer Enters Pleas of Not Guilty
- TODAY in COURT: Updates on Three Murder and Manslaughter Cases
- SoHum Murder Suspect Changes Plea to Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity
- TODAY IN COURT: Defense Puts Forward Plea Offer in Bear River Triple Murder; Plus: The State of Play in Three Other Local Homicide Cases
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In other court news, the preliminary hearing was rescheduled this morning for convicted murderer Demetrius Coleman and his girlfriend Alma Ahumada-Mendoza, both charged with felony welfare fraud, grand theft, perjury and conspiracy.
The hearing was set for today but Judge Kaleb Cockrum agreed to delay it until Feb. 8 at the request of the defense.
According to the written criminal complaint, Coleman and Ahumada-Mendoza made fraudulent statements between July and December of 2020 in order to receive financial and medical benefits. During that time Coleman, 41, was already in custody for the August 2019 murder of Johnny Mack Renfro in Rio Dell.
Ahumada-Mendoza has a child from a previous relationship, and she and Coleman have a child together.
A jury convicted Coleman more than a year ago of special-circumstance murder, meaning he is looking at life in prison without possibility of parole. He is now represented by attorney Zack Curtis, although Andrea Sullivan was his trial lawyer.
Coleman still has not been sentenced.
Although Ahumada-Mendoza was also charged with Renfro’s murder, Judge Timothy Canning dismissed charges against her at the couple’s preliminary hearing. She is out of custody but has come to court for both appearances scheduled in the fraud case.
Ahumada-Mendoza is represented by attorney Joe Judge.
PREVIOUSLY:
- Police Believe They’ve Recovered Vehicle Used in Rio Dell Shooting Homicide; Person of Interest Named
- Man Wanted in Connection With 2019 Rio Dell Murder Arrested in North Dakota
- With One Suspect Arrested and One At Large, Rio Dell Police Chief Headed to North Dakota to Assist With Homicide Case
- Rio Dell Murder Case Suspect Arrested in Fargo
- TODAY in COURT: Latest on the Rio Dell, Manila, Hikshari Trail Murder Cases; Trial of Accused Eureka Sex Trafficker Delayed
- TODAY in COURT: Defense Attorney Disqualifies Himself From Rio Dell Murder Case; Sole Remaining Defendant in Manila Murder Plot Sees Trial Postponed
- TODAY in COURT: Sex Trafficking Suspect Gets to Keep Lawyer, Who Faces His Own Criminal Charges; Eureka, Rio Dell Killings Also on Docket
- TODAY in COURT: Rio Dell Murder Suspects Scheduled for Preliminary Hearing; Accused Ferndale Cop-Shooter Deemed Mentally Capable of Standing Trial
- Suspect in Rio Dell Murder Will Answer to Charges, Though Judge Calls Evidence Against Him ‘Not Strong’; Charges Against Man’s Girlfriend Dropped
- TODAY in COURT: Date Set for Attorney’s Suit Against Judge for Alleged Abuse; Rio Dell Murder Suspect Heading to Trial Next Month
- TODAY in COURT: Suspect in Rio Dell Murder Turns Down Plea Bargain; Woman Accused of Driving Into Crowd of McK Protesters Pleads Not Guilty
- TODAY in COURT: Eureka Attorney Scheduled for March Trial on Drug Trafficking Charges; Old Town, Rio Dell Murder Cases Move Forward
- RIO DELL MURDER TRIAL: Police Officer, Witness Testify About the Day Johnny Renfro Was Shot Dead
- RIO DELL MURDER TRIAL: Expert Testimony Anchors Second Day of Trial
- RIO DELL MURDER TRIAL: Prosecution Witness Testifies That Suspect Dumped Car at Their Home, Issued Veiled Threats
- RIO DELL MURDER TRIAL: Young Mother Testifies She Was Brought Along on Ride That Ended With One Dead Against Her Will
- RIO DELL MURDER TRIAL: Prosecution Shows Jurors Texts Sent by Suspect After the Shooting
- RIO DELL MURDER TRIAL: Suspect Takes the Stand
- RIO DELL MURDER TRIAL: Suspect Fingers Unknown Jamaican Man Named ‘Dread’ as Actual Shooter
- Rio Dell Murder Trial Goes to the Jury
- RIO DELL MURDER TRIAL: In Closing Arguments, Defense Attorneys Lean Hard on Theory That Unidentified Jamaican Man Named ‘Dread’ Was the Actual Killer
- RIO DELL MURDER TRIAL: Jury Locked in Deliberations After Two Days
- Jury Finds Coleman Guilty of 2019 Rio Dell Murder