An infant injured in a bizarre tourist homicide case in Fort Bragg last year appears to still be suffering from the impacts of a crash that killed his aunt.
On Oct. 17, 2014, Michael Bradford Bitney, 56, of Oregon was allegedly driving his pickup when he crashed through the wall of the Beachcomber Motel just north of Pudding Creek, killing Karen (Snyder) Zuehlsdorf, 45, of Lafayette, California in her room. She was holding her 7-month-old nephew, Cole, when the truck suddenly emerged through the wall. Cole was taken to the hospital by helicopter. Family members have said she may have shielded the boy with her body. The court files and crime scene don’t provide any convincing proof of that. The truck scattered two queen beds and other furniture. Zuehlsdorf’s survivors included her husband, Danny, a teenage daughter, Summer, and a 9-year-old son, Tanner.
A jury trial scheduled for this week was vacated at a hearing last Wednesday when a judge ruled that a third psychological exam should be completed.
Prosecutor Kevin Davenport said the toddler is currently showing signs of developmental delays such as walking and “some brain impairment, speech, or motor skills.”
Zuehlsdorf’s cell phone was found stuck in the grill of Bitney’s truck after he was detained by a park ranger shortly after the crash, in the Ten Mile area. Bitney had been staying in the next room but no evidence has been presented that shows he knew or targeted Zuehlsdorf. No motive for the incident has emerged. Zuehlsdorf had stayed behind in the motel room with the baby while her friends who came to town with her took a ride on the Skunk Train.
Twice this year psychological exams have found him competent to stand trial and raised questions about malingering (pretending). Since then, the jail psychiatric team has made a diagnosis and prescribed anti-psychotic drugs. This time two doctors will examine Bitney and each compose reports, Davenport said. Shortly after the arrest, the court ordered that Bitney’s mental capacity to stand trail should be evaluated. Dr. Kevin Kelly first evaluated Bitney and submitted a report that found him competent to stand trial. The trial proceedings were reinstated. His public defender, Carly Dolan, again raised questions about his mental condition. Another psychological evaluation was then done by a “Dr. Shurikien” that also found Bitney competent to stand trial, the court file states.
Bitney has been held at Mendocino County jail since the arrest in lieu of $155,000 bail. His jury trail on charges of vehicle manslaughter with gross negligence and leaving the scene of an accident had been set to start this week.
Although there have been an unusual number of efforts by the public defender to have Bitney found incompetent to stand trial, Davenport didn’t express frustration with the delays.
Bitney behaved bizarrely during his arrest and has refused to discuss his case with Dolan.
“It’s an evolving situation. He apparently suffers from some sort of mental disorder, whether organic or psychiatric,” Davenport said. Davenport said it appears Bitney is “deteriorating.”
Bitney served four years for a previous California robbery, meaning he has a strike against him under the three strikes law. Any sentence would normally be doubled if found mentally competent and convicted. Davenport said if Bitney were to be found incompetent to be stand trial, he could be confined there for as long as the sentence he might face, which is about 17 years. If that happens, he could also be deemed competent at some point and sent back for trial.
All of that is different from a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Following the report by the two doctors the case will be back before the court for a ruling on whether a trial will proceed or not.
