Details of a case involving a man accused of murdering a former associate on a remote, abandoned cannabis farm along State Route 299 came to light during a preliminary examination this week.

Testimony linked the shooting to a love triangle conflict — made up of the victim, defendant and a woman who partially testified this week on the shooting in exchange for immunity.

Christopher Diven, a 38-year-old Willow Creek man, is accused of fatally shooting Vincent McKenney with a sawed-off 20 gauge shotgun.

The court heard testimony from a Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office investigator, a Sheriff’s deputy and a woman enmeshed in the conflict between the two men who was nearby during the shooting.

Diven is accused of shooting McKenney at a property known as “Three Story Grow.” He has pleaded not guilty and remains on a no-bail hold.

Christopher James Diven | 2023 booking photo via Humboldt County.

Police heard in January from the mother of McKenney, then a missing person. She told officers her son’s last known car was spotted, a white Chevy Tahoe, and believed Diven killed her son in a “shootout,” according to testimony by HCSO officer Shane Steele, who was called to the stand by Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Schaffer.

Police searched Three Story Grow, a property with a massive, stripped building where the car was found.

“It’s a trash dump, basically,” said Steele. 

Using cadaver dogs, police found scattered, skeletal human remains in two sets near a creek, estimating about 30 and 50 yards away from where the Tahoe was found. The bones were recovered via in-depth sorting through leaf litter, and later the victim’s skull was reassembled with tape.

HCSO Investigator Brian Buihner testified police found BBs consistent with bird shot on a fragment of skull, as well as in dirt near the skull fragments. He testified a portion missing of the skull “appeared to be caused by the shotgun.”

Deputy Public Defender Ryan McClurg questioned if the victim’s injuries on his torso were consistent with him being shot while holding a gun. A witness testified McKenny had taken a .308 from a property the three squatted on when he left and had previously brought it to confrontations with the defendant. But this question was overruled due to speculation.

Deputies found yellow shotgun shells at the scene and Romex wire tied to the victim’s ankle, which police believe was used to drag McKenny’s body.

Steele testified police searched another abandoned grow nearby — 242 Cedar Creek — where Diven and others were squatting. 

While executing a search warrant at the property they found yellow shotgun casings. Police found items belonging to McKenney, including a car owned by the victim and his debit card.

Of note, said Steele, was that McKenney’s belongings ended up with Diven after his death. This was met with sounds of frustration from women attending the hearing and an objection from the defense attorney.

McKenney had formerly lived there after Diven invited him to move in, according to witness testimony. He lived there for a period before leaving the property with Diven’s romantic partner, Jordan Schafer Burgisso Burdisso causing more conflict between the two men.

Steele testified that, during interviews with Diven’s friends, police learned that Diven had borrowed a shotgun while citing disputes between him and McKenney.

His friends loaned him a 20 gauge shotgun and a box of shells in October.

Steele testified Diven had texted the friend on Oct. 28 looking for a ride around 4 .a.m., because he believed that McKenney was holding Burdisso hostage.

He told his friend via text he was walking to Three Story Grow.

She responded telling him she was out of gas , and woke up later seeing a text message from Diven stating he was “just kidding” and was at home the whole time, Steele testified.

He returned the gun in November. The friend told police the two thought nothing of it at the time, then later “put two and two together,” and hid the weapon, months later.

According to later testimony from Investigator Buihner, police went with the friends to Forest Service land where the shotgun was stashed in a tree trunk. 

The friend informed police the victim and defendant had problems. One dispute related to a dump truck being stolen and stripped of valuables off the property, and for Burdisso temporarily leaving Diven for McKenney.

Burdisso was also brought to the witness stand, and was offered immunity in exchange for testifying.

She had an undisclosed medical emergency preventing her from completing her testimony Friday, and her statements would be struck from the record if she does not appear Friday, Judge Christopher Wilson said.

Burdisso, often distraught and suffering from the condition while on the stand, testified she chose to tell police everything due to guilt over McKenney’s death — she said she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

“Vincent didn’t belong out there,” she said. She said she blamed herself at points for his death, and both she and Diven were emotional during the hearing.

She had texted Diven telling him to “bring protection” (a gun) while she was meeting McKenney at Three Story Grow. She wanted to get some of her possessions back that McKenney had packed into a trailer with the intention of moving down river. He was attempting to convince her to come with him, she testified.

She spoke with Diven briefly after he arrived on foot while she waited in her car, said she fell asleep, and testified she later was awoken when hearing McKenney say “You’ve got to be kid-” followed by two gunshots she identified as coming from a shotgun.

She testified Diven and McKenney had been arguing and tensions were reaching a head.

DA Schaffer showed the court video evidence Burdisso recorded of the pair arguing about a week before the shooting, which included Diven threatening to shoot McKenney if he returned to the property Diven was squatting on. McKenney was armed when he arrived, said Burdissio, and she had gone with him to the property to retrieve something.

Later, Burdisso testified her and Diven crafted text messages and deleted messages to make it seem like she never met up with McKenney.

Judge Christopher Wilson continued the hearing to Friday. Diven’s attorney did not finish cross examination of Burdisso, who did not appear on the second day of the hearing due to a medical emergency.

The preliminary hearing is set to continue Friday. Judge Wilson was adamant the hearing would conclude then, with the aim to establish whether enough evidence exists to hold Diven to the charges he is accused of. If Burdisso doesn’t show Friday, Wilson said he will strike the testimony.

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