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Robby Alan Beasley, 30, and Elijah Bae McKay, 28, both former Maine residents, appeared separately before Lake County Superior Court Judge Stephen Hedstrom Tuesday afternoon, at which time they entered their not guilty pleas, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Art Grothe.
Beasley and McKay are each charged with two counts of murder for the slayings last January of Yvette and Frank Maddox of Maine, who investigators said came to Lake County to work for Beasley in a marijuana growing operation.
The couple's bodies were found in early March off of Morgan Valley Road in Lower Lake.
Beasley and McKay also are facing special allegations of committing multiple murders in the first or second degree, committing the offenses with the intent to inflict great bodily injury on the victims and using a 9 millimeter firearm, with an additional special allegation that Beasley had a prior 2007 felony conviction in Maine for criminal threatening with a firearm.
Ukiah attorney Richard Petersen is McKay's attorney, while attorney Stephen Carter is representing Beasley.
Carter said Beasley is set for preliminary hearing on the morning of Jan. 18.
He said he is expecting a “longer than usual” preliminary hearing, with estimates in court on Tuesday putting the proceeding at between four and five days.
Grothe said McKay will appear April 5 for the setting of his preliminary hearing. McKay agreed to waive his time, while Beasley did not, which means Beasley's case will be expedited, Grothe explained.
In court last month, Grothe stated that, as currently charged, the men could face the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole if convicted.
He said Tuesday that the decision on how to pursue the case – either as capital murder or life in prison – will come later, likely after Beasley's preliminary hearing later this month.
Grothe also wants to confer on the case with new District Attorney Don Anderson, who was officially sworn in on Tuesday morning, before making that final determination.
Beasley and McKay remain in the Lake County Jail.
On Monday, the Kennebec Journal obtained a copy of an e-mail Beasley sent his grandmother, Charlotte Beasley, which it shared with Lake County News.
In the message, Beasley told his grandmother and his father that he was to be in court on Tuesday, and that “the charges should get dropped that day.”
He wrote, “I was in court a few weeks ago, some guy was here for 15 months and my lawyer got his charges dropped and he went home. I'm not stressed out about it and you should not worry. I'm innocent. This place falsely charges a lot of innocent people with out (sic) proof.”
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