At least two people with ties to the Minutemen border-watch movement who were accused last week of brutally murdering a 9-year-old girl and her father also may be suspects in a June 8 home invasion robbery in Shasta Lake.
Shawna Forde, 41, founder of a Minutemen organization in Washington state, Jason Eugene Bush, 34, and Albert Robert Gaxiola, 42, were charged last week by Arizona authorities in a May 30 robbery and double murder at a home near the Mexico border.
The three dressed as law enforcement officers and forced their way inside, fatally shooting a 9-year-old girl and her father in addition to wounding her mother, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pima County, Ariz., told the Associated Press.
Dupnik said the three were out for drug money and hoped to kill the family to cover their tracks.
Ford and Bush made a stop in Cottonwood, staying at the Alamo Motel, 3818 Main St, from June 6 to June 9, according to Shasta Sheriff's Department Sgt. John Hubbard. They were subsequently identified by staff who saw their pictures on television.
"It helps corroborate the information that puts them in the same area and time as the robbery (in Shasta Lake City on June 8)," Hubbard said.
Bush and Ford are currently held in Pima County Jail in Arizona.
The Associated Press and Michael Woodward, Anderson Valley Post, contributed to this story.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
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