Yreka man found guilty of first-degree murder of a Santa Cruz county man in 2019, DA’s office says
SISKIYOU COUNTY, Calif. (KION)- UPDATE ON MAY 8, 2024 AT 6:29 PM- The Siskiyou County District Attorney's Office said that 26-year-old Timothy Chase McDonald was found guilty of shooting a killing a former Santa Cruz County resident.
According to a CBS affiliate KHSL-TV, 26-year-old Timothy Chase McDonald was found guilty of murdering 31-year-old Spencer Hodgson of Santa Cruz County on April 8, 2019.
The incident started when the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a dead body in the Klamath River area which is northwest of Yreka.
Deputies found Hodgson's body in a ravine and he was living in the Klamath River in the area at the time.
A Sheriff's Office pathologist confirmed that Hodgson's cause of death was homicide and he was killed from gunshot wounds.
Deputies also found Hodgson's dog and his missing pickup truck.
In Jan. 2020, Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office arrested McDonald on murder charges after new information determined he ambushed Hodgson after he found out about flirtatious texts on his girlfriend's phone.
Yreka man arrested in connection to murder of former Santa Cruz County resident
A Yreka man was arrested Tuesday night in connection to the murder of a former Santa Cruz County resident last April.
Detectives with the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office arrested 22-year-old Timothy Chase McDonald for the murder of 31-year-old Spencer Richard Hodgson.
On April 8, 2019, the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a dead body in the Klamath River area northwest of Yreka. There they found Hodgson's body in a ravine. Hodgson was living in the Klamath River area at the time.
After an autopsy, a pathologist confirmed that Hodgson's cause of death was homicide and that he died from gunshot wounds.
Deputies found Hodgson's dog, who was alive and well, and his missing pickup truck. The truck was used as a source of potential evidence.
Detectives in Siskiyou County conducted interviews, served search warrants and found some potential evidence, but said leads dissipated over time.
Siskiyou County investigators eventually began working with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office and offered a $50,000 reward for information.
The Sheriff's Office said the arrest was linked to information that came from a recent news release about the case, but they do not know how much influence the reward had.
The information led to a follow-up investigation with the Siskiyou Unified Major investigation Team and the Siskiyou Interagency Marijuana Investigation team, but the Sheriff's Office said there is no known link between the murder and illegal drug activity at this time.
As a result of the follow-up investigation, McDonald was arrested. His bail is set at $1 million.
Anyone with additional information about the case is asked to contact the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office at 530-842-8318 and refer to case number 1-19-0547.
