File photo.


More details of the circumstances that led 51-year-old Shawn Kolpak to be arrested and accused of the brutal attack of a 75-year-old man in the Arcata Community Forest came to light on the second day of his preliminary hearing.

A judge Friday found there was enough evidence to continue proceedings against Kolpak, but downgraded one charge from aggravated mayhem to simple mayhem, both violent felonies related to bodily disfigurement with different jail times if convicted.

Kolpak was held to answer on the attempted homicide charge, as well as enhancements for causing great bodily injury and Spenceley’s age.

Kolpak previously pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution argued the evidence proved Kolpak was responsible for seriously injuring the man by beating him in the face with his fist — pointing to injuries on the knuckles of Kolpak’s left hand, his fixation on and frustration with a person he thought was taunting him by moving sticks around in the forest, and inconsistencies in his story. Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees argued he was intentionally deceiving police during questioning.

Meanwhile, Deputy Public Defender David Celli argued the prosecution offered a “very fragile daisy-chain” of evidence, and said an animal attack or a fall hadn’t fully been ruled out. He pointed to a lack of witnesses to the attack and a lack of physical evidence — including a confirmed weapon.

Testing results for two pieces of evidence remain pending. The Arcata Police Department is awaiting a DNA test for drops of blood found on a jacket police believe Kolpak was wearing that day. The department is waiting on fingerprinting results for a metal water bottle a K9 unit alerted near the crime scene.

Judge Kaleb Cockrum said the weakest part of the case is the “means,” or how the man was attacked.

“There is room for additional information,” he said, one way or the other, and noted there were other possibilities.

Meanwhile, 75-year-old Bill Spenceley remains unable to speak, in the ICU at a UC Davis hospital after serious head injuries sustained in the Jan. 30 attack on Trail 5 of the Arcata Community Forest.

The second witness Rees brought to the stand was Celeste Villarreal, an APD detective who investigated the attack on Spenceley.

She said Kolpak was initially identified as a person of interest due to a phone call he made to APD reporting a person stacking sticks in the forest. She also noted an open case where Kolpak is accused of assaulting a different man in the face in McKinleyville.

After further questioning of Kolpak, she found him to be fixated on a person that was apparently stacking sticks. While being questioned on the attack, she said he would spontaneously bring up “stick guy,” a man he described as matching the description of Spenceley.

Previously, a friend told police that Spenceley would often move sticks off the trails.

Kolpak had a routine of walking in the area of forest daily early in the morning in the area near where Spenceley was found.

Villarreal said Kolpak believed stick guy was “playing games with him” including stalking and taunting him. Early in the mornings, he described seeing a headlamp light and believed stick guy was following him. Kolpak dropped brown paper napkins in the forest and believed stick guy moved them near the sticks to taunt him; brown paper napkins were found by police near the scene.

His feelings about the stick guy, over the course of a three-hour police interview, ranged from comical, to frustrated and angry. He acknowledged having anger issues but told police he wasn’t angry enough to do anything to stick guy. But Villarreal believed his frustration over the stick guy was deeper than he let on, due to him bringing him up repeatedly.

She testified medical personnel told police it was unlikely Spenceley’s injuries were caused by a wild animal or a fall.

Villarreal said during treatment at the UC Davis Medical Center, a Dr. Pahm told her his injuries were unlikely to be caused by a fall, with a single injury in the back of his head and all others on his face, without other injuries from a fall.

He had some thoracic spinal fractures, but doctors were unable to determine if the fractures were new or old.

Dr. Pahm believed the injuries were caused by blunt force. Police noted the victim’s clothing was not torn and the injuries were concentrated only on his head, something the prosecution argued was inconsistent with a wild animal attack. Medical workers similarly found it unlikely to be an animal attack at Mad River Hospital where he was taken before being airlifted due to the severity of his injuries.

The victim had no defensive wounds.

A key part of the prosecution’s argument were the inconsistencies in Kolpak’s stories when being questioned by police.

He told police he avoided the route where Spenceley was found that day. He claimed to have avoided a side trail leading to where Spenceley was found due to crime scene tape. But Villarreal testified she hadn’t yet put up the tape at the time he claimed to have turned around. When confronted with this he changed his story and said he went in the evening around 5 p.m., but again, Villarreal said this was after police had taken down the tape, around 4 p.m.

“He knows where the crime occurred because he’s the one who did it,” argued Rees, later.

Kolpak told police he tripped on sticks that day, when asked to explain the injuries on the back of his hand. Villarreal cast doubt on his claim to have injured his hand slipping on sticks while carrying a cup of coffee, pointing to the instinctual reaction to catch yourself with the palm of your hand.

With Kolpak believed to be right handed, his attorney, Celli questioned why his left hand would be injured. Instead, Rees argued that Kolpak held the victim with his right hand and beat him with his left.

During closing arguments, Celli emphasized it remains a question whether a crime was committed. He pointed to lacerations on Spenceley, and argued there was a lack of evidence proving it was done by a human and not a mountain lion.

He cast doubt on the doctor’s familiarity with animal attacks and called the testimony to be stricken; but Judge Cockrum kept the testimony on the record while considering the full picture of evidence.

Celli also noted the pair had no previous altercations, with Villarreal testifying the pair would say short greetings to each other on the trail.

Rees countered by asking how a wild animal would gently lay the victim down on the ground, without a trace, and emphasized there was probable cause Kolpak committed the crime.

Video surveillance found Kolpak leaving the place he parked his van to sleep outside of Redwood Capital Bank around 7 a.m., and he told police he walked in the park that morning. Police spoke to people who frequent the area, but nobody confirmed they saw Kolpak that day.

Judge Cockrum agreed there remained an identification issue, but said there was probable cause to hold Kolpak to answer to the charges. He pointed to evidence that put Kolpak in the area, alongside his known pattern, his call to police, and his “paranoia” surrounding the activities of “stick man.”

Cockrum sought to reduce the mayhem charge as aggravated mayhem requires intent to disfigure.

An arraignment on information is scheduled for April.

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