It's finally over in Fort Bragg

I lost two good friends, our community lost two leaders, a kid lost his mind, and two parents lost their son.  Nothing good came out of this.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20111001/ARTICLES/111009980/1350?Title=Slaying-suspect-Aaron-Bassler-shot-killed

 

Eye for an eye! I applaud the law enforcement great job!!!

Eye for an eye! I applaud the law enforcement great job!!!

And no wasted time and money for a trial and all the appeals that would have come

Sorry you lost two friends Dave.

You are right Dave. Ive been thinking of you as we watched the thing unfold over the last month and more. The whole thing is sad. Including the loss of the kid. No matter what he was still someones son and thats gotta hurt. The loss of two great laders and friends is massive. I hope the healing can start up there now and Aarons parents can rest.

not good from the start to the end.......sorry for your losses Dave.

I worked with Matt Coleman, the first victim, for two years; we were both fisheries techs on the same crew.  Since then I worked with him many times on stream restoration and monitoring projects because we worked on neighboring ownerships.

Jere Melo, the second victim, was a contracted employee to our company.  I not only worked with him a lot on company business, but also he was invaluable to me in the MLPA process.  If it weren't for Jere, I would not have been appointed as stakeholder, upholding kayak fisher interests in the MLPA.

I also worked extensively with Jim Bassler, a local fisherman and father of Aaron Bassler, in the MLPA process.  Jim is good guy, who also supported our interests in the MLPA process.  According to Jim, Aaron was a normal kid who developed schizophrenia when he turned around 20.  Jim made repeated attempts to have Aaron treated by County Mental Health officials - who did nothing.

I guess my point is that when you know everyone involved, it's hard to get behind the "eye for an eye" thing.  The sheriffs did what they had to do, and did it well, but killing Aaron won't bring back Matt and Jere.

Aaron was a mentally ill guy who was seeing aliens and stuff.  Like I said.........everything about this was bad.

Truly is A dam shame and I mean no desrespect from my opinion, im very sorry for the loss of life that came from all this...... Doesnt sound like Aaron was gonna be taking alive, he probably wouldnt have hesitated to shoot you or any other that he stumbled upon in that forest.. Glad its over, when I first heard the storie I followed it closely. Very scary to know there are people out there like that.. Sorry for your loss.

Dave,

Thanks for your post here. It's good to be reminded that there is always so much more than a news story to these things.  I'm sorry for your loss and the loss of others in the community

So sorry Dave,

I do not think I ever heard of someone who was so connected on all sides of the tragedy ,

the County failed this kid and the community...

just a shame and unnecessary ...

 Hope the community and yourselves get some closure and healing...

Sad story all-around. Sorry for your losses Dave.  I wish you the best and hope your community can find some peace and healing as you move on.  Take care.

Schizophrenia is the real deal. I have family and friends afflicted with it. Be sympathetic and loving to their families. They need it. It seems to mostly hit men as opposed to women- and pretty young too. Sorry for your loss DaveW.             

I had a close friend and roomate who became skitzo at about that same age. He believed that the government killed his father(who died of cancer). He also believed that aliens were following him and when someone coughed, he thought they were trying to steal his thoughts. You can imagine how crazy he would get when my friends would come over and sit around smoking pot and coughing. He had meds to take but they had some pretty harsh side effects so he wouldn't take them. He is an avid fisherman and a fairly successful contractor now still living in sonora. Apparently crazy people do well in fishing and the construction trades.

Dave,

I have never been on all sides of such an event as you were on this one.
I can't even begin to imagine your feelings at a time like this.
It sounds like they were really stand up guys.
The best therapy is time on the water and I know when you hit it they will be with you.