Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / CalFire Captain Accused of Killing Girlfriend, Her Son to Prevent Their Testimony | Crime Alert 09.05.25

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CalFire Captain Accused of Killing Girlfriend, Her Son to Prevent Their Testimony | Crime Alert 09.05.25 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alart hourly update, breaking crime news Now. I'm Sidney Sumner,
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  Speaker 1: a California fire captain accused of killing his girlfriend and
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  Speaker 1: her young son and attempting to kill another child, entered
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  Speaker 1: not guilty, Please in court. Darren McFarlane, forty seven, is
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  Speaker 1: on unpaid administrative leave from cal Fire after his arrests
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  Speaker 1: last week for the murders of twenty nine year old
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  Speaker 1: Marissa Herzog and her son, Josiah, a second grader. He
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  Speaker 1: stands charged with two counts of first degree murder, one
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  Speaker 1: count of attempted murder, and domestic violence and child abuse charges.
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  Speaker 1: Court documents say the murders took place to prevent the
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  Speaker 1: victim's testimony for a crime, but they do not specifically
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  Speaker 1: reveal what that crime was. They do, however, detail what
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  Speaker 1: investigators think happened on the evening of August twenty first.
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  Speaker 1: Prosecutors say that McFarlane attacked Herzog inside a bedroom before
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  Speaker 1: she left the room and used her cell phone. McFarlane
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  Speaker 1: then obtained a gun and went out to the dining
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  Speaker 1: room to kill her. The arrest affidavit says that Herzog's
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  Speaker 1: murder was will full, deliberate, and premeditated and that she
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  Speaker 1: and her son were killed because they witnessed a crime.
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  Speaker 1: McFarlane then attempted to kill a second child, identified as
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  Speaker 1: Herzog's daughter. The court document say the killer did wilfully
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  Speaker 1: and unlawfully inflict unjustifiable mental suffering on a child, or
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  Speaker 1: permit a child to suffer unjustifiable mental suffering under circumstances
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  Speaker 1: and conditions likely to produce great bodily harm. El Dorado
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  Speaker 1: County deputies found Herzog dead at the scene when they arrived.
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  Speaker 1: Josiah was taken to a hospital, where he died. McFarlane
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  Speaker 1: had fled the scene and was later arrested several counties
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  Speaker 1: away in Mono County. The El Dorado County District Attorney's
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  Speaker 1: Office added special circumstances to the murder charges, committing multiple murders,
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  Speaker 1: murder of a witness to prevent testimony, an intentional discharge
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  Speaker 1: of a firearm causing death, and child endangerment, making McFarlane
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  Speaker 1: eligible for the death penalty if he's convicted. McFarlane is
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  Speaker 1: being held without bail and has a preliminary hearing set
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  Speaker 1: for September twenty ninth. A Wisconsin man pleaded guilty to
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  Speaker 1: reckless homicide in the fatal shooting of his eight year
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  Speaker 1: old step son earlier this year while trying to look
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  Speaker 1: cool by showing off his guns. Stephen Merkle, fifty three,
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  Speaker 1: is expected to be sentenced on November twentieth. Merkele called
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  Speaker 1: nine one one at about two am on January twentieth,
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  Speaker 1: telling detectives he did something stupid. Merkele said he was
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  Speaker 1: showing his step son, Michael Meager, his guns because it
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  Speaker 1: made him look cool. He said he had taken the
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  Speaker 1: magazine out and assumed the gun wouldn't fire, even though
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  Speaker 1: there was a bullet in the chamber, apparently because he
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  Speaker 1: was not very knowledgeable about guns. The complaint said that
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  Speaker 1: Merkele retrieved his gun from the bedroom and exited, pointing
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  Speaker 1: the gun at the boy and pulling the trigger. He
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  Speaker 1: said he expected it to click, but instead it went boom.
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  Speaker 1: Meeger was taken to a hospital, where he died. Merkele
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  Speaker 1: also said he had two little drinks of rum in
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  Speaker 1: RC that evening, although there was no indication police checked
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  Speaker 1: him for intoxication. More crime and justice news for this
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  Speaker 1: An Oklahoma man has been charged with child sexual abuse
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  Speaker 1: after his eleven year old stepdaughter gave birth at home
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  Speaker 1: earlier this month. Dustin Walker's wife, thirty three year old
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  Speaker 1: Cherie Walker, was charged with enabling child sexual abuse. The
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  Speaker 1: girl gave birth at home on August sixteenth, with no
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  Speaker 1: medical care, and the Walkers claimed they had no idea
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  Speaker 1: she was pregnant. Scherie Walker's mother, who identified herself only
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  Speaker 1: as Michelle, said her daughter claimed the father was a
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  Speaker 1: twelve year old boy and that the children just got curious.
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  Speaker 1: The Walkers were initially charged with child neglect when they
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  Speaker 1: were arrested last week, but the charges were changed on
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  Speaker 1: Monday when DNA test showed that Dustin Walker thirty four,
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  Speaker 1: was a ninety nine point nine percent match for the
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  Speaker 1: baby's father. Muskigee County Assistant District Attorney Janet Hudson said
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  Speaker 1: in a statement, this is one of the most, if
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  Speaker 1: not the most serious child sexual abuse in neglect cases
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  Speaker 1: I have ever prosecuted. The couple is all so charged
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  Speaker 1: with six counts of child neglect for the eleven year
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  Speaker 1: old girl and her five siblings, ages two, four, six, seven,
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  Speaker 1: and nine. The children who have been removed from the
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  Speaker 1: home were found living in deplorable conditions. The eleven year
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  Speaker 1: old had not seen a doctor in more than a
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  Speaker 1: year and was apparently homeschooled. The Walkers are due in
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  Speaker 1: court on September third. A North Carolina elected official was
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  Speaker 1: arrested on Tuesday for allegedly lacing his granddaughter's ice cream
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  Speaker 1: with drugs. James Yokeley, sixty six, reportedly flagged down Wilmington
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  Speaker 1: police at a sheet's gas station and claimed his granddaughters
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  Speaker 1: found two pills in a blizzard they purchased from a
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  Speaker 1: nearby dairy queen. However, police said surveillance footage showed Yokeley
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  Speaker 1: putting the pills in the girl's ice cream. The girls
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  Speaker 1: did not ingest the pills, which tested positive for MDMA
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  Speaker 1: and cocaine. The dairy queen's owner said that Yokeley came
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  Speaker 1: into her store five days before he flagged down officers
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  Speaker 1: and ordered blizzards for his granddaughters. Four employees were reportedly
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  Speaker 1: on duty at the time. The owner said police came
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  Speaker 1: to her establishment to request surveillance footage, commenting, thank goodness
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  Speaker 1: we had video. Yokley was charged with contaminating food or
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  Speaker 1: drink with a controlled substance, child abuse, and possession of
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  Speaker 1: Schedule one narcotics. Yesterday, he resigned as chair of the
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  Speaker 1: Surrey County Board of Elections. He was elected to the
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  Speaker 1: position in July. Yoakley said in a letter addressed to
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  Speaker 1: Auditor Dave Bolliek, who called for his resignation hours earlier,
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  Speaker 1: based on the truth in facts, I remain prayerfully confident
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  Speaker 1: that I will be exonerated of all accusations leveled against me.
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  Speaker 1: Yoakley's bond was set at one hundred thousand dollars. The
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  Speaker 1: pills allegedly found in his granddaughter's blizzards were sent to
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  Speaker 1: a state laboratory for further analysis. It's unclear what Yoakley's
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  Speaker 1: motive was for the frame job. For the latest crime
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  Speaker 1: and justice breaking news, be sure to follow the Crime
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  Speaker 1: Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app with this
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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert. I'm Sidney Sumner.