PLACERVILLE - A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the shooting deaths of three family members whose remains were recovered from a log cabin that burned to the ground September 13.
Nolen Keith Buchanan was questioned by investigators at his family's Benicia house two days after the deadly fire and told them his family had gone to the cabin while he chose to stay home, according to El Dorado County Sheriff John D'Agostini.
D'Agostini said evidence recovered from a pickup truck impounded at the house suggested otherwise, and the suspected murder weapon and a wallet and purse belonging to the adult victims were later found at a Benicia business park.
According to the criminal complaint filed Thursday afternoon in El Dorado County Superior Court charging Nolen as an adult, investigators believe he used a .22 caliber rifle to kill his father, Adam Buchanan, 38, his half-brother Gavin Buchanan, 8, and Gavin's mother, Molly McAfee, 37.
Nolen is a student at Benicia High School and continued going to school after the killings while staying with his grandmother, according to the sheriff.
Three sets of human remains were recovered from the cabin on Highway 193 in Greenwood and sent to Sacramento for analysis. The destruction was so extensive, investigators were only able to make positive identification of the victims this week.
El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson wouldn't speculate on the possible penalty Nolen would face if convicted, saying the law is in a state of flux regarding sentencing for juvenile offenders tried as adults.
