By Larry Judkins
Glenn County Observer
A fourth person has been arrested in connection with the March 8, 2019, kidnapping, torture, and murder of Brandon Bryce Dawson.
On Tuesday, August 24, 2021, the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service, arrested the “fourth and final” suspect in the case of the brutal killing of Brandon Dawson, 26, of Orland.
The U.S. Marshals Service found Lane Cleo Walker Jr., 44, at the Rolling Hills Casino in Corning at about 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Walker had an outstanding arrest warrant out of Glenn County.
Charges on the warrant included kidnapping (a felony); torture (a felony); first degree murder (a felony); first degree murder with the use of a firearm (a felony); altering, concealing or moving physical evidence (a misdemeanor); a special allegation allowing the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole because the first degree murder occurred following a kidnap (a felony); a special allegation allowing the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole because the first degree murder occurred following the torture of the murder victim (a felony); and a special allegation adding 10 years, 20 years, or 25 years to life for the use of a firearm during the commission of a serious felony (a felony).
Walker is being held without bail.
In late July, three other suspects were taken into custody. On Wednesday, July 28, at about 11:15 a.m., Clayton Shane Humphrey, 39, a ranch hand who lives at 1022 Kirkwood Road, Corning (Flournoy), was booked into the Glenn County Jail on a warrant alleging being an accessory to a felony, first degree murder (a felony), and altering, concealing or moving physical evidence (a misdemeanor).
His bail was set at $10,000.
He was taken into custody at 10 Gilmore Road, Red Bluff, by a California Highway Patrol officer. This Gilmore Road address is a strip mall where Antelope Blvd. and Interstate 5 meet.
At about 2:45 p.m. the same day, Stanley Scott Grundy, 45, a laborer who lives at 17400 Paskenta Road, Corning, was booked into the jail without bail on a warrant alleging kidnapping, torture, and first degree murder (all felonies). He was taken into custody at 1340 Walnut Drive, Red Bluff, by a California Highway Patrol officer.
This address is in a residential area of Red Bluff, north of the Red Bluff Municipal Airport and east of the Sacramento River.
At about 11:35 a.m. on Friday, July 30, John Cornelis Poldervaart, 52, a logger who lives in the Capay District, was booked into the jail on a warrant alleging kidnapping, and torture (both felonies).
His bail was set at $600,000. Poldervaart was taken into custody on Forest Road M2, Tehama County, by a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy.
The Wednesday, August 25, news release sent out by the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office erroneously said, “All four men are currently housed in the Glenn County Jail pending court proceedings.” Actually, Clayton Humphrey was released on bail in early August.
As stated above, Dawson was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered on March 8, 2019. He had his share of troubles, legal and otherwise, since he was 19 years old, but his problems seemed to accelerate at the start of 2019.
On Jan. 14, 2019, he was the suspected driver of a vehicle involved in a highspeed chase in Corning. During the pursuit, Dawson reportedly jumped from the moving vehicle and fled on foot, getting away.
Dawson managed to make it to Oregon, where he had a relative. Then, on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, while a man was waiting in a parking lot in Coos Bay to buy a Canadian gold coin from someone, another man approached the would-be gold buyer’s vehicle, pulled out a gun, and tried to get in.
Fortunately, the vehicle was locked. The gold buyer put his vehicle in drive and sped away, calling 911 at 2:11 p.m.
The suspect was identified about a week later as Brandon Dawson. Law enforcement officers in both Oregon and California stepped up their search for him.
Apparently, he returned more or less immediately to Glenn County. In the early evening of Wednesday, Feb. 13, an anonymous person called the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office to report seeing him at 6511 County Road 33, Artois, the property of the late Paul Heyrend.
Deputies searched the area but were unable to find Dawson.
He may have come closest to getting caught on the night of Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. At about 10 p.m., Orland police officers, CHP officers, and Glenn County Sheriff’s deputies attempted to stop Dawson in the area of 221 East Shasta Street.
Dawson fled first in a vehicle, then on foot. He jumped several fences of private residences, successfully evading law enforcement officers again.
This was most unfortunate. Had he been caught, he might – just might – still be alive.
On Thursday, Feb. 28, Dawson’s mother, Kelli Skidmore, came into the office of The Valley Mirror, where this reporter was writing at the time. As she paid for a subscription, this reporter encouraged her, if she heard from her son, to have him surrender to authorities.
Skidmore explained that Brandon Dawson had been very upset ever since his father, John Dawson, was murdered in Chico at about 4:30 a.m. on August 16, 2018, as the elder Dawson stood on the street in the 600 block of West First Avenue.
On Sunday, March 10, 2019, Kelli Skidmore reported Brandon Dawson as a missing person. At the end of the month, Ashley Talk-Kellison, who called Dawson a friend, posted a plea for information regarding Dawson on the Butte County Fires, Accidents, Crimes Facebook page, and probably elsewhere.
She commented that Dawson was last seen on March 8, 2019, and the last person to see him was “Michael Paul.” She also wrote that “Michael Paul’s” girlfriend, Brittany Douglas, had “Brandon’s car last” in “Yuba City”.
Apparently starting on April 10, 2019, Kelli Skidmore began posting on Facebook that her son had been murdered. Then, late in the afternoon of Wednesday, April 17, 2019, a body was found in the mountains of western Colusa County.
The body was found with the help of Glenn and Colusa County Sheriffs’ deputies, U.S. Forest Service officers, the FBI, and scent-detecting dogs. Dawson had been shot in the head and his hands were cut off.
Rumors quickly began flying throughout Glenn County that the body was that of Brandon Dawson. Glenn County Sheriff Rich Warren would neither confirm nor deny this, however.
Eventually, it was determined that the body was indeed that of Dawson. Official documents from various sources indicate he was murdered on March 8, 2019.
The next major turn of events occurred on July 29, 2019. Very early that morning, Michael Paul Oliveira, 45, of Orland, was shot to death as he sat in the living room of 617 North Shasta Street, Willows, the home of convicted felon Jamie Barbeiro, who had gone to prison for involuntary manslaughter.
Oliveira had reportedly arrived at the Barbeiro residence unexpectedly, something she said was not unusual. However, she and her roommate, Nikki Marquez, invited him to stay for dinner.
After both women left Oliveira alone in the living room, Barbeiro heard multiple gunshots. She went out from the kitchen to the living room and found that Oliveira had been shot.
He was lying on the floor on his left side with the back of his head resting against the brick fireplace hearth and a baby bassinette on top of him. He had an apparent gunshot wound to his head and several spent shell casings were found in the room.
The baby bassinette may be one of the keys in understanding the motives behind the murder of Oliveira. As one Facebook user posted not long after the killing:
“Karma is a bitch. Now his [Michael Oliveira’s] girl who was THERE [by which the Facebook poster apparently means the location where Dawson was murdered] who KNEW he was killing my daughter’s dad and the love of my life [that is, Brandon Dawson] is PREGNANT and has to bring a baby into the world without a father….”
In a brief telephone interview with Glenn County Sheriff’s Lt. Brandy McDonald on August 4, 2021, she confirmed that Oliveira was involved in the murder of Dawson. In the same post as the one above, the person wrote:
“Justice still isn’t served. There’s still three men who should and I believe WILL be charged. But thank God the mastermind and main POS [piece of shit] is in HELL….”
Court proceedings of various kinds for the remaining suspects are scheduled to begin tomorrow, August 27.
The Glenn County Observer 