Accused Stockton serial killer appears in court amid new murder charges
STOCKTON – A 43-year-old man accused of fatally shooting seven people in Stockton and Alameda County returned to court Tuesday morning in Stockton.
Wesley Brownlee wore a red jumpsuit to court with his head bowed down during his hearing.
During Tuesday's hearing, there was a motion to quash, or reject, a subpoena for Brownlee's employment and school records.
Some of the records included Pacific Coast Supply, Stockton Unified School District Admissions, Stockton Unified School District Department of Public Safety, and Oakland Unified School District.
His public defender, Allison Nobert, also told the judge she was seeking a court order for her client to see an eye doctor because he was having a difficult time seeing some of the paperwork being presented to him.
Brownlee was charged last year in October in connection with the deaths of three men—Jonathan Rodriguez, 21, Juan Carlos Carranza-Cruz, 52, and Lawrence Lopez, 54.
At the time, San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar said despite Brownlee being arrested in connection with six homicides, prosecutors were only able to charge him with three of the killings at that point.
However, late last month the District Attorney's Office filed an amended complaint accusing Brownlee of additionally killing Juan Alexander Vasquez in Alameda County, Paul Yaw, Salvador Debudey Jr, and the attempted murder of Natasha LaTour in Stockton.
Included in the complaint was a new murder that had not been made public—a second shooting in Alameda County, this one of Mervin Harmon.
According to court documents, Brownlee allegedly shot and killed Harmon in Alameda County on the same day he attempted to kill LaTour in Stockton.
Previously, prosecutors said they were able to link the first three shootings to Brownlee through ballistics. They have not yet said how they linked the other cases to him.
Judge Xapuri Villapudua said both parties would return to court Jan. 17 at 1:30 p.m. for argument on the motion to quash the subpoenas and for further arraignment.