"Oakdale Ninja" who used samurai sword to kill man engaged to ex-girlfriend convicted of murder, prosecutors say
OAKDALE — A man who dubbed himself the "Oakdale Ninja" was convicted of murder for using a samurai-style sword to kill another man who was engaged to his ex-girlfriend, prosecutors said Friday.
George Taylor Grass, 32, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 30, 2025, and faces a life sentence, the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office announced.
According to the district attorney's office, Grass was upset that the victim — Jackie King — was engaged to a woman with whom Grass was previously in a relationship.
Grass, while armed with a three-foot-long samurai-style sword, confronted King and stabbed him to death on August 19, 2020, prosecutors said. Oakdale police officers arrived to find Grass standing over King's body with the sword in hand.
Grass was eventually taken into custody after an hours-long standoff with police at the apartment complex where the stabbing happened.