Fugitive Arrested In 2004 Murder Of Pleasant Hill College Student

MARTINEZ (CBS SF) -- A 39-year-old fugitive who was arrested in Stockton by the FBI has been charged with murder in connection with the 2004 of a college student in Pleasant Hill.

Michael "Merlin" Fidler was shot in his apartment at 141 Golf Club Road around 1 a.m. on May 10, 2004, as he tried to wrestle a gun away from the shooter.

Police said at the time that two men had entered his apartment through an unlocked door and demanded marijuana. Investigators found what they called a "substantial amount" of the then-illegal substance at the crime scene.

The murder of the 25-year-old Fidler, a Diablo Valley College student, went unsolved for three years before police identified Kenneth York and Tyson Moorehead as the suspects. York was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2010, while Moorehead disappeared and became a fugitive.

Moorehead has been charged with murder with special allegations that the crime was committed for financial gain and that it took place during the course of a robbery and burglary.

He's also been charged with two counts of first-degree residential robbery and one count of first degree residential robbery -- all of which are felonies, according to a criminal complaint dated Nov. 6.

Prosecutors said he appeared in a Contra Costa County courtroom for arraignment Wednesday morning, but an update on the outcome of that proceeding was not immediately available in the afternoon.

 

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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