Suspect in Illinois man’s murder arraigned; DA seeks to keep case in Lake County
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A man who authorities said bludgeoned his traveling companion to death at a Humboldt County campground before dumping the body in Lake County has made his first appearance in Lake County Superior Court.
Mavrick William Fisher, 21, who has connections to both Elko, Nevada, and Riverside, was arraigned on Friday afternoon in Judge J. David Markham’s courtroom in Lakeport.
Fisher is charged with the murder of 25-year-old Grant David Whitaker of Mackinaw, Illinois, during an altercation that investigators say occurred in Humboldt County.
The two men, both of them deaf, were reported to be traveling cross country together to California when a disagreement occurred, leading to the fatal confrontation, according to District Attorney Susan Krones.
Authorities say Fisher later brought the body to Lake County, where it was discovered on Monday near Upper Lake, as Lake County News has reported.
Earlier this week, Fisher was taken into custody by authorities in Rosarito, Mexico, where he fled after Whitaker’s murder. They assisted with getting him back to the United States, and he was booked into the Lake County jail on Wednesday afternoon.
Krones, who appeared in court to handle the case on Friday, has charged Fisher with murder; assault with a deadly weapon, with the weapon in this case being a rock, and a special allegation of inflicting great bodily injury; willfully and maliciously removing and keeping possession of the 2011 Chevrolet Impala that Whitaker had been driving and which was on loan from his grandmother in Illinois; and unlawfully taking the car after the murder.
While the murder is believed to have occurred at Richardson Grove State Park in Humboldt County, Krones told Lake County News that Lake County has jurisdiction over the case because Whitaker’s body was located here.
She cited California Penal Code section 790, which gives jurisdiction for a murder or manslaughter case to “the county where the fatal injury was inflicted or in the county in which the injured party died or in the county in which his or her body was found.”
Krones said she has spoken to Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming, who has asked Krones to handle the case in Lake County. At the same time, both Lake County and Humboldt County investigators are working the case.
On Friday, the court assigned Tom Feimer, a defense attorney with the county’s indigent defense contract, to represent Fisher.
Fisher, wearing a jail jumpsuit and sitting in the jury box along with several other individuals awaiting arraignment, also was provided the assistance of an interpreter at Friday’s court appearance.
Outside the courtroom, two women – one older, one younger with a baby – were waving and gesturing at Fisher and holding up the baby so it could be seen through the courtroom door window. A bailiff who admitted them to the courtroom warned them against trying to communicate with Fisher, a normal admonishment for family members in attendance at court proceedings.
When Markham arrived, he took particular care to ensure that the interpreter had the assistance she needed and to ask if Fisher could understand him and the proceedings as they took place.
Markham then informed Fisher of his rights and went over the case, and asked Fisher if he understood.
“I’m just wondering when I can call my witnesses,” Fisher said through his interpreter, with Markham explaining that they weren’t yet at that point.
Feimer then asked the judge to read the full contents of the charging document, which is just over two pages in length, with Markham did.
The complaint against Fisher alleges that he committed the murder of Whitaker and the associated crimes on Aug. 20.
Krones asked Markham to continue to keep Fisher in custody on a no-bail hold, adding there is a request to increase bail due to factors include him having previously fled to Mexico.
“We believe he is an extreme flight risk,” she said, noting he has no real ties to Lake County or even to California and adding that the murder was “brutal.”
“We believe he is an extreme danger to the public if released,” she said.
Feimer reserved argument on Friday, instead asking for a review of Fisher’s bail to be set to take place at his next court appearance, along with the entry of his plea.
Markham set Fisher’s next court appearance for 8:15 a.m. Monday, Sept. 9, in Department 3.
Krones said Fisher appears to not have had a previous criminal record.
What is known so far
Krones told Lake County News that the investigation is still very much under way, and a lot of the details aren’t entirely clear yet.
What’s known so far is that Fisher and Whitaker drove west in the 2011 Chevrolet Impala loaned to Whitaker by his grandmother.
Krones said she didn’t have information about how the men came to know each other.
“I really don’t know if they had known each other growing up,” she said, adding that they had a connection in the deaf community.
Part of their interest in coming to California was to create a “deaf farming community,” she said, with the two visiting locations around the state.
Krones did not know all of the locations where they may have visited, although she said they may have been in Trinity County at some point.
Along the way, Krones said there was a disagreement. “It is unclear at this point when that disagreement started.”
She said Whitaker told Fisher that they were not on the same page about farming and they were going to separate.
Eventually, the trail led them to Richardson Grove State Park in southern Humboldt County. Authorities believe that it was there that early on the morning of Monday, Aug. 20, Fisher killed Whitaker with a rock. Krones could not say if the murder was part of a physical fight between the two or if Whitaker was hit while he was still resting.
An autopsy conducted earlier this week found that Whitaker died of blunt force trauma to the head, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Krones said it’s unclear if the rock used to kill Whitaker has been recovered as part of the investigation.
Following the killing, Fisher left the campground and headed south to Lake County, where he knows people. It was at a property in the 7500 block of Scotts Valley Road – which Krones said may be owned by acquaintances of Fisher – that Whitaker’s body was dumped. The exact timeframe has so far not been explained.
After not hearing from Whitaker, on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 24, Whitaker’s grandmother filed a missing person’s report about her grandson in Tazewell County, Illinois, Krones said.
On the same day, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said it received information that the Chevy Impala Whitaker had been driving was near a Dollar General store in Lake County, with deputies finding the vehicle at the Clearlake Oaks Dollar General. It was impounded and secured for processing.
After the murder, Fisher made his way to Mexico, along the way sending out emails to friends about what was going on. “We’re obviously going to analyze those,” Krones said.
Authorities received information on Sunday, Aug. 25, that Fisher had admitted to killing Whitaker and the whereabouts of Whitaker’s body.
On Monday, Aug. 26, the Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit served a search warrant that led to the discovery of human remains in a remote area near the 7500 block of Scott’s Valley Road. That same day, the sheriff’s office received information that Fisher had been contacted in Rosarito, Mexico, by law enforcement who helped take him into custody and return him to Lake County.
An autopsy on Wednesday, Aug. 28, confirmed the body found near Upper Lake was Whitaker’s and concluded that he had been killed by a blow to the head, authorities said.
Krones said the information about Fisher admitting to killing Whitaker has come from other sources, not Fisher himself. She added that Fisher has made statements to law enforcement that are “varying.”
She said investigators are not sure how truthful Fisher was in the statements he made to either his friends of law enforcement.
There are “a lot of witnesses we need to talk to still,” she said.
Both Krones and Sheriff Brian Martin said they have received a large amount of interest in the story from the deaf community nationwide.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact Det. Richard Kreutzer at 707-262-4233 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.