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Judge orders Cocolalla man to stand trial for murders

by Keith Kinnaird News Editor
| March 17, 2013 7:00 AM

SANDPOINT — A Cocolalla man was ordered to stand trial Thursday for allegedly luring two men to their deaths in a California desert during a drug-related rip-off in 1995, according to the Barstow Police Department.

San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Dan Detienne found there was sufficient evidence to justify trying Christion Leonard Bunty Sr. on two counts of a first-degree murder and single counts of robbery and conspiracy.

Detienne issued the ruling following a two-day preliminary hearing in Fontana, Calif. The court also sustained prior orders that Bunty be held without bail.

Bunty’s next scheduled court appearance is on March 22.

A preliminary hearing for James Linzey Franklin, Bunty’s alleged accomplice in the robbery and killings, is set for Thursday in Barstow. Franklin is being held at the San Bernardino Sheriff Department’s West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Bunty, 40, and Franklin, 42, are accused of killing Mark Adamson and Joseph Riley. Their remains have never found despite periodic searches of properties and places linked to the two defendants.

Adamson and Riley reportedly agreed to meet with Bunty and Franklin.

Bunty and Franklin allegedly offered to sell them $9,000 worth of ephedrine, a key component in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

But Barstow Police detectives contend the deal was a deadly ruse.

“It was a setup by Bunty and Franklin to rob the victims of their money and to kill them,” said Barstow Det. Keith Libby, who testified at Bunty’s preliminary hearing.

The preliminary hearing garnered no media coverage in California.

Libby said no physical evidence was entered into the case during the hearing, although he said a Barstow woman testified that Franklin shared details with her about the murder plot.

Libby said Kelly Ann Garner’s testimony has not wavered from prior statements she’s made to investigators.

“It’s been consistent and it’s information she learned from Franklin, which included Bunty’s involvement,” said Libby.

Bunty, also known as Christian Bunty, was arrested on the double homicide charges last December. Franklin was already serving a life sentence for an unrelated murder in southern California when he was charged in the case.

Bunty has led a mostly law-abiding life since moving to Idaho more than a decade ago, according to court records. Scores of people have submitted character reference letters, which portray Bunty as a devoted father and businessman known for helping neighbors and others in the community.

Bunty’s friends and family insist he is innocent and incapable of committing the crimes with which he’s charged. They maintain he is being railroaded by corrupt authorities in California.