UPDATE: Trio Suspected in SF, Marin Killings Used Handgun Stolen From Unlocked Car

Updated: 4 p.m.

A handgun stolen from an unlocked vehicle parked near San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf neighborhood was the weapon allegedly used in the fatal shooting of two people in the Bay Area by a trio of suspects arrested after fleeing to Portland, Ore., according to San Francisco police investigators.

Two men and a woman were arrested in Portland on Wednesday in connection with the shooting deaths of 67-year-old Steve Carter in the Loma Alta Open Space Preserve in Marin County and Audrey Carey, a 23-year-old resident of Quebec, Canada, in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

San Francisco police Cmdr. Toney Chaplin said evidence recovered in the vehicle in Oregon linked the suspects to the two murders and a handgun found with the trio was traced back to an auto burglary that occurred in a residential area near San Francisco’s Fisherman Wharf neighborhood between 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 30 and 4:45 a.m. on Oct. 1, just days before the homicides.

MORE COVERAGE:

• Prominent Therapist Found Shot to Death on Hiking Trail
• 3 Suspects Arrested in Slaying of Therapist on Hiking Trail ID’d
• Suspects in Marin County Homicide Linked to Golden Gate Park Murder

He said the auto burglary was not reported until noon on Oct. 1 at which point the owner told police that a gun in a lockbox had been stolen out of the vehicle.

Police said the vehicle appears to have been unlocked when the auto burglary occurred.

“San Francisco has an auto-burglary problem,” Chaplin said, explaining that anyone who owns a firearm should leave it at home, secured, and not in a vehicle. He said vehicles in San Francisco are very likely to be broken into.

Two days after the gun was reported stolen, the first homicide was reported.

The homicide was reported at about 9 a.m. on Saturday when a passerby found Carey lying facedown in a wooded area near the bison paddock in Golden Gate Park.

Police confirmed that Carey had been shot in the head but were unable to say how long her body had been in the park when she was found.

Chaplin said email correspondence between Carey and her family indicates that she arrived in the Bay Area on Sept. 19 and had been backpacking and camping in Golden Gate Park and the surrounding area ever since.

The last communication between the victim and her family appears to have been on Oct. 1, just two days before she was found dead.

Chaplin said Carey’s family is relieved that arrests have been made and that police are working with the family to gather more information.

Carey’s death occurred during the weekend of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival, which attracts hundreds of thousands of people to Golden Gate Park each year, but Chaplin said it remains unclear whether Carey or the suspects attended the free festival.

Chaplin said Carey was “just on a young person’s adventure” and had been exploring and seeing the sights. He said police believe she had been camping in the park.

On Monday, a second homicide victim was discovered, later identified as Carter, this time in a wooded area in Fairfax, in Marin County.

Carter was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds by a hiker on a trail just after 6 p.m. Monday. Carter’s dog, a Doberman Pinscher, had also been shot and was still leashed to him, according to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators said the three suspects traveled to Marin County from San Francisco but have not learned what method of transportation they took.

After Carter was found, investigators determined that Carter’s Volkswagen Jetta was missing and found surveillance footage showing three people refueling the Jetta at a gas station in Point Reyes Station.

Marin County investigators were able to use the car’s GPS to track it to Portland, where the trio was arrested at a dining hall, sheriff’s officials said.

San Francisco police contacted Marin County investigators after learning of Carter’s murder due to the fact that both victims were fatally shot in wooded or park areas in a similar manner.

San Francisco police said the suspects, identified as Sean Michael Angold, 24, Morrison Haze Lampley, 23, and Lila Scott Allgood, 18, were arrested at the dining hall around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday in Portland, but that more information about their backgrounds has not yet been made public.

Following the arrest of the trio, San Francisco detectives flew to Portland and discovered that Carey’s property had been found in the suspects’ possession, San Francisco police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said.

Chaplin said a search of the Jetta uncovered the gun and lockbox reported stolen out of San Francisco as well as some of Carey’s camping gear.

The suspects have waived their rights to extradition hearings and are expected to be brought back immediately to the Bay Area, first to Marin County and then to San Francisco where they will face homicide charges, police and sheriff’s officials said.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office said it is still unknown exactly when the three homicide suspects will arrive back in Marin County, but that they will be charged with the robbery and murder of both Carey and Carter.

Police have not said how long the suspects were in the Bay Area prior to the homicides or where they are from.

Police have not said whether the suspects were in an altered mental state during the homicides or if drug paraphernalia was found on them at the time of their arrest.

Chaplin said evidence would be presented to prosecutors within the next 24 hours.

He said the homicide investigations remain active and anyone who may have had contact with the suspects or the victims should contact police immediately.

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Original Story:

Two men and a woman arrested in Portland, Oregon, Wednesday in connection with the fatal shootings of a man on a hiking trail in Marin County on Monday and a woman in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park over the weekend are expected to return to the Bay Area soon to face homicide charges.

The trio have waived their rights to extradition hearings and are expected to be brought back immediately to the Bay Area, first to Marin County and then to San Francisco to face homicide charges stemming from the shooting deaths of 67-year-old Steve Carter in the Loma Alta Open Space Preserve and Audrey Carey, a 23-year-old resident of Quebec, Canada, in Golden Gate Park, police and sheriff’s officials said.

MORE COVERAGE:

• Prominent Therapist Found Shot to Death on Hiking Trail
• 3 Suspects Arrested in Slaying of Therapist on Hiking Trail ID’d
• Suspects in Marin County Homicide Linked to Golden Gate Park Murder

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office said it is still unknown exactly when the three homicide suspects will arrive back in Marin County.

The three will be charged with Carey’s robbery and murder, as well as that of Carter, according to police.

The gun used in the murders was apparently stolen in Fisherman’s Wharf, according to media reports.

San Francisco police said the suspects, identified as Sean Michael Angold, 24, Morrison Haze Lampley, 23, and Lila Scott Allgood, 18, were arrested at a dining hall around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday in Portland, but that more information about their backgrounds has not yet been made public.

Carey was found lying face down near the bison paddock in Golden Gate Park by a passerby around 9 a.m. on Saturday. Carter was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds by a hiker on a trail just after 6 p.m. on Monday.

Carter’s dog, a Doberman Pinscher, had also been shot and was still leashed to him, according to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office.

Carter’s Volkswagen Jetta was missing and investigators then found surveillance footage showing three people refueling the Jetta at a gas station in Point Reyes Station.

Investigators were able to use the car’s GPS to track it to Portland, where the trio was arrested at the dining hall, sheriff’s officials said.

San Francisco police contacted Marin County investigators after learning of Carter’s murder due to the fact that both victims were fatally shot in wooded or park areas.

Following the arrest of the trio in Portland, San Francisco detectives flew to Portland and discovered that Carey’s property had been found in the suspects’ possession, San Francisco police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said.

Marin County sheriff’s Lt. Doug Pittman said it does not appear that Carter knew the suspects and investigators do not know why they shot him.

Carter and his wife, Lokita Carter, founded the Lake County-based Ecstatic Living Institute in 1999 to teach subjects such as tantric massage and yoga.

Lokita Carter keeps a blog about her battle with breast cancer and wrote this week that she is deeply appreciative of the outpouring of support following her husband’s death.

“I am beyond words, and it is only the knowledge (of) how much you all love Steve, and me, that keeps me going at this extremely difficult time,” she wrote.

Police have not said what items were stolen from the homicide victims or whether the suspects were in an altered mental state during the homicides.

Homicide investigators are expected to release additional information about the homicides this afternoon, according to San Francisco police.

--Bay City News Service, photo courtesy of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department