Arraignment for suspected Stockton serial killer continued into January
STOCKTON – A 43-year-old suspect charged in three Stockton serial killings was ordered Monday to return to court in January for further arraignment.
Wesley Brownlee, 43, a truck driver who moved to Stockton this past summer, appeared in San Joaquin County Superior Court on Monday morning dressed in a red jumpsuit, and was ordered to return on Jan. 3.
During Brownlee's court appearance, Judge Xapuri Villapudua opened a box of employment files subpoenaed into evidence from the suspect's possible former employer.
Records from Natasha LaTour, who said she is the only known survivor of the suspect's alleged killing spree, were also subpoenaed into evidence.
Last month Brownlee was charged with three counts of murder, one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, and one count of possession of ammunition by a felon, according to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office.
He was arrested about 2 a.m. on Oct. 15 in the area of Village Green Drive and Winslow Way on suspicion of fatally shooting six people and suspicion of attempted murder. Thus far he has only been charged with the murders of three Hispanic men: Jonathan Rodriguez, 21, Juan Carlos Carranza-Cruz, 52, and Lawrence Lopez, 54.
Police said before stopping Brownlee their surveillance team had been following him and watching his patterns before allegedly determining he was going to strike again.
"We are sure we stopped another killing," Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden said at a press conference last month.
Police said the string of shootings from April 2021 to September of this year have been linked by ballistics and claimed the lives of Juan Vasquez Serrano, Paul Yaw, Salvador Debudey Jr., Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, Juan Carlos Carranza-Cruz, and Lawrence Lopez.
On Monday Brownlee's family was present in court, along with LaTour and family members of Yaw.