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PREVIOUSLY: 85-Year-Old Garberville Man Found Shot Dead on Bell Springs Road Yesterday; Case Still Under Investigation

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The above documentary short, directed and produced by Keely Brazil Covello and Michaela Brazil Gillies, investigates the unsolved 2021 murder of 85-year-old rancher Richard “Dick” Grayson Drewry, who was shot in the head while sitting in his vehicle on Bell Springs Road, near Island Mountain Road.

With the proximity to “Murder Mountain,” the killing naturally gave rise to speculation about the incident’s connections to the illicit marijuana industry. The people interviewed in this handsomely produced short (which was released via the website Real Clear Politics, of all places), describe various theories surrounding the unsolved case, including whether Drewry was the victim of organized crime, a personal vendetta or something else.

Like other examples of the unsolved-weed-murder(s) genre, this one deploys a bit of sensationalism. However, the case does have genuine built-in thriller elements. Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal, at one point, says Drewry’s killing “has all of the Hollywood makings of a hit,” meaning a planned execution rather than a box office success, we assume. 

“Dick Drewry’s investigation — his homicide — that case is absolutely the manifestation of what everyone is concerned about who works out in the hills,” Mendocino County Sheriff Matthew Kendall says in the film.

Eventually, after multiple sources back out of interviews, the two investigative filmmakers nervously travel to the remote New Harris General Store, where co-owner Rob Gellman tells them, on camera: “We know who killed him. The cops know who killed him. It was over water.”

Gellman declines to identify the alleged perpetrator. Nonetheless, the clues lead the duo to some suspicious Facebook posts in which a local woman appears to be implicating her own father in the crime.

A title card before the closing credits says the case remains open.