It may be hard to follow each development in the Frank Carson murder case out of Stanislaus County, with so many people involved. So how did Carson, two of his family members, two Turlock liquor store owners and three California Highway Patrol officers get linked in the criminal complaint?
According to investigators from a Stanislaus County Sheriff's Task Force, it all began with Carson being so enraged by metal thefts from a Turlock property. He allegedly recruited brothers Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal (different spellings for their last names) to "make an example" of the thieves coming onto his property.
Korey Kauffman was identified as a metal thief by Carson. He was last seen in March 2012 and is the murder victim in the case. Kauffman was described as a "scrapper", a person who earns a living from stolen and recycled metal.
Kauffman's body was found more than a year after his disappearance in Mariposa County. Several month later, Robert Woody was arrested in Kauffaman's death -- the first suspect in the case.
The investigation into Kauffman's death then focused on unnamed "co conspirators", but it wasn't until this month that it was announced: Carson, his wife Georgia Defilippo, the Atwal brothers and former CHP officer Walter Wells were charged with murder. Carson's stepdaughter, and two other CHP officers were charged with obstruction of justice.
In court this week, it became clear much of the investigation relied on information from Woody.
Woody told investigators the Atwal brothers severely beat Kauffman when he was found on Carson's property before Kauffman was shot in the back. Woody said the body was first buried near the Turlock liquor store owned by the Atwal brothers. He admitted taking part in the removal of the body a month later and taking Kauffman's remains to the forest near Yosemite.
CHP officers Eduardo Quintanar and Scott Mcfarlane were involved in the case because of their connections to the liquor store. Investigators claim the Atwals offered alcohol at discounted prices to law enforcement in order to benefit from those relationships and learn of any investigations involving them. It's alleged the CHP trio provided information to the Atwals, though it's not clear in the 325-page affidavit why Wells is charged with murder, while the other two face obstruction charges.
This week in court, bail was denied for Carson and the Atwal brothers. Carson's wife and Wells were offered bail at $10 million. It was also announced the district attorney will not be seeking the death penalty in this case.
