Clearlake Oaks man reaches plea deal for deadly 2017 shooting spree
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Clearlake Oaks man who killed his father and a friend, shot two others including a California Highway Patrol officer, robbed two stores and set wildland fires during an October 2017 shooting and crime spree has reached a plea deal with the Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
On Tuesday, the day before he was set to stand trial, Alan Leroy Ashmore, 64, pleaded no contest to murder and attempted murder charges, said District Attorney Susan Krones.
Krones said Alan Ashmore pleaded to first-degree murder for the killing of his 85-year-old father, Douglas Ashmore, as well as the killing of his friend, Richard Braden, 64.
Ashmore also pleaded no contest to the attempted first-degree murder of CHP Officer Steven Patrick, Krones said.
In all three instances, Krones said Ashmore admitted to the personal discharge of a firearm that resulted in death and great bodily injury.
As part of the plea deal, Krones said Ashmore agreed to a sentence of 140 years to life in prison.
While a no contest plea is technically not the same as a guilty plea, Krones said it has the same effect. In this case, she said it pointed to sufficient evidence to prove the case against Ashmore beyond a reasonable doubt.
She said she reached out to the victims to let them know about the settlement and their rights to give victim impact statements at his sentencing.
Krones said Ashmore will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, in Judge J. David Markham’s Department 3 courtroom at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport.
The agreement included the dismissal of 18 counts ranging from assault with a deadly weapon to a felon in possession of guns and ammunition – a charge that stemmed from a 1980 felony burglary case – and hit and run involving a vehicle he had struck while driving around Clearlake Oaks that day, Krones said.
Krones said the charges were dismissed with a “Harvey waiver,” which means the charges can still be considered in the sentencing and victims have the opportunity to pursue restitution.
Ashmore previously had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Krones said that plea was withdrawn, which was one of the reasons she agreed to this final plea deal.
“Even though I did not think that would have been successful,” she said of the insanity plea, “you never know what a jury’s gonna do.”
Ashmore’s attorney is Andrea Sullivan, who leads the county’s indigent defense contract.
Sullivan said she thought the plea agreement was a favorable outcome for Ashmore because, had he gone to trial and been convicted, he could have faced life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“This will also allow the victims and their families to move on without the trauma of reliving the incident at a jury trial,” Sullivan said.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported that a federal court in February 2014 ordered the state to implement a parole process for inmates who are 60 years or older and who have been incarcerated for at least 25 years. That ruling was in response to California’s prison overcrowding.
The state subsequently created the Elderly Parole Program, which allows for a parole suitability hearing once they are both age 60 and have served 25 years of continuous incarceration.
“Inmates sentenced to fixed, determinate terms as well as those sentenced to life with the possibility of parole are eligible for the program. Inmates who are sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, or who are sentenced to death are not eligible for the program,” the state reported.
Panels hearing such parole cases will consider advanced age, long-term confinement and diminished physical condition, if any, when determining the inmate’s suitability for parole. If approved, inmates are released immediately.
Based on the state guidelines, Ashmore would be 89 years old before he could be considered eligible for the program.
While theoretically parole is possible for Ashmore, “Realistically, he will likely never be paroled,” Sullivan said.
Krones agreed, noting that even if he became eligible for consideration, his suitability would be in question. She said she thinks it’s highly unlikely Ashmore would be found suitable “at the first opportunity, given what he did.”
She said she’s also informed the victims and their families that, should Ashmore be considered for parole in the distant future, the Lake County District Attorney’s Office would present opposition at a parole hearing.
Shooting and crime spree erupted after disagreement
Ashmore was arrested following a shooting spree during which he also robbed two gas stations at gunpoint and set fires in the Clearlake Oaks area on Oct. 23, 2017, as Lake County News has reported.
The incident, which led to a massive law enforcement response, began with a confrontation between Ashmore and a 22-year-old female friend at his home, Krones said.
Authorities said Ashmore had become angry with the woman after she refused to have sex with him and he shot her in the foot. She was able to escape out a window and ran to the neighbor’s house for help.
Douglas Ashmore had attempted to intervene in the confrontation between his son and the woman. After the woman escaped, Alan Ashmore shot his father in the face, killing him instantly, according to incident reports.
Krones said Ashmore then retrieved a shotgun from his residence, took his father’s vehicle and fired at several houses and neighbors.
He attempted to kill one neighbor who escaped after Ashmore’s pistol misfired. Ashmore then fired several rounds into three separate residences from both inside and outside of the residences, according to the District Attorney’s Office investigation.
Ashmore found Braden in a vehicle parked on the street in Anchor Village and shot him several times with a shotgun, killing him, authorities said.
Officer Patrick encountered Ashmore as he was responding to a call about a shooting in the area. Authorities said Ashmore shot several shotgun rounds at Patrick, hitting both his vehicle and his ballistic safety vest in the area of his abdomen.
Although injured, authorities said Patrick – along with a responding sheriff’s deputy – pursued Ashmore and protected the nearby East Lake Elementary School.
Ashmore fled to a Chevron station on Highway 20 and entered the station store with a shotgun, confronting a beer vendor as he entered the store, Krones said.
Based on the case investigation, Ashmore fired the shotgun one time at the head of the vendor, who went to retrieve his firearm – which he had a concealed weapons permit to carry – from his vehicle.
While still in the store, Ashmore stole a Pepsi and went back to his vehicle. The vendor fired several times at Ashmore’s vehicle in an attempt to stop him, Krones said.
Authorities said Ashmore proceeded to drive to the Power Mart gas station and entered that store with the firearm, robbing the store at gunpoint – pointing the shotgun at the clerk – and taking a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. After he left the store he fired several shots outside of it.
From there, Krones said Ashmore drove up High Valley Road where he lit several small fires in an attempt to escape law enforcement. Firefighters with Northshore Fire and Cal Fire extinguished the fires.
Krones said Ashmore made one more stop before he was taken into custody, driving into the parking lot of Brassfield Winery where he brandished a firearm at a man.
Authorities said Ashmore was attempting to steal the vehicle from the man, who escaped after a high-speed chase.
Ashmore would finally surrender without resistance at a roadblock on High Valley Road set up by the CHP, sheriff’s deputies and Lakeport Police officers, authorities said.
Then-District Attorney Don Anderson told Lake County News as the time that Ashmore told investigators after he was taken into custody that he “would just kill anyone that f****** moved.
Patrick would be off work for three months after the shooting before returning to duty, as Lake County News has reported.
The CHP Area commander at the time, Lt. Hector Paredes, said Patrick’s actions during the incident were “clearly heroic.”
Anderson, who originally handled Ashmore’s case, decided not to pursue the death penalty against him due to his age and the fact that, before the October 2017 spree killing, he had little criminal background.
Case had been set for trial this week
Ashmore was held to answer in the case following a March 2018 preliminary hearing.
It had been set for trial several times since, but Krones said the case was finally set to go to trial on Wednesday.
The trial was expected to last about a month and a half, with 30 or so witnesses, she said. In such a complicated scenario, even with a conviction, many issues can be raised on appeal.
“This plea will void any substantial lengthy appeals,” Krones said.
She said the discussions leading up to the plea agreement weren’t underway for very long. She said Anderson had previously been involved in negotiations to settle the case but they didn’t go anywhere.
Krones said she looked at the case again and, late last week, worked out the plea agreement with the defense.
Krones said Ashmore entered the plea on Tuesday, at which point he was on the Superior Court calendar for a settlement conference.
“It gives finality to the case,” Krones said.
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