COLUSA COUNTY, CA (MPG) – It has been nearly six years to the week since two Colusa women were found bludgeoned to death on an Arbuckle farm, but the wheels of justice continue to grind slowly.
Trial has once again been reset – this time for early fall – for accused killer Martin Christian Ehrke, who reportedly confessed to killing Jessica Lynn Mazak, 25, and Kimberly Lynn Taylor, 39, during what he claims was a mental break on Jan. 25, 2018, according to preliminary court testimony.
Ehrke has pleaded both not guilty to causing the death of the two women and not guilty by reason of insanity, a dual plea that has bogged down the legal process while the court awaits reports from all mental health experts who are involved in evaluating him.
Colusa County District Attorney Brendan Farrell has asked the court for eight days to prosecute the case.
On Jan. 10, retired Colusa County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey A. Thompson, who has overseen the case since its beginning, set trial to span over a three-week period, Sept. 24-26, Sept. 30, and Oct. 1-4, although he may not be on the bench when trial occurs.
Thompson currently remains on the bench on assignment until Gov. Gavin Newsom names his replacement.
Ehrke, Mazak, and Taylor had reportedly been friends and the two women had been staying with Ehrke at the Arbuckle farm when another guest had returned that to find a blood-soaked crime scene and called 911, officials have said.
It wasn’t long after the report that the Colusa County Sheriff’s Office found Taylor’s body inside a freezer, along with the rock that was used to bash in her skull while she lay sleeping.
They later found Mazak’s body in a pond. She, too, had been killed with a rock as she walked her dog near the guest quarters.
According to preliminary testimony, Ehrke went to Colusa Medical Center for medication not long before the bodies were found. He was discovered at the Colusa home of a friend later that same day, wearing water-soaked socks that still left imprints on the sidewalk as he walked.
Sheriff’s officials testified that Ehrke admitted during questioning to being angry at the two women for allegedly stealing from him, but also rambled on about doomsday and World War III. Ehrke reportedly killed Mazak first and dragged her body to the pond where it was found submerged below the surface, officials said. He then went into the room where Taylor was sleeping and struck her in the head with a rock, before hiding her body in the freezer.
With the dual plea, Ehrke continues to maintain he did not commit the crime he is accused of. If found guilty by a jury at trial, he would undergo a sanity trial for the court to confirm whether the homicides were caused by mental illness.
In California, the burden of truth lies on the defendant to prove insanity as a defense, officials said.
If found guilty of committing the two murders – and insane – it is likely Ehrke would be confined to a state mental hospital until recovered or serve imprisonment, whatever the outcome. He has remained incarcerated at the Colusa County Jail since his arrest in 2018, except for nearly a year spent in a state mental institution while undergoing treatment to restore his trial competency.
Ehrke has been present in Colusa County Superior Court for his hearings and is represented by Public Defender Brandon Williams.
A trial readiness conference has been set for May 29.