A Boulder Creek man is in custody after a month-long investigation of a double murder in the Santa Cruz mountains.
The investigation began when the bodies of two men were found in the back of a pick-up truck on Highway 35 on March 24.
On Sunday morning, California Highway Patrol (CHP) detectives arrested 66-year-old James David Collier on two charges of murder, The CHP said.
Passers initially reported to the CHP an abandoned pickup on March 24 near the 17000 block of Hwy 35 in the Santa Cruz mountains. Officers found the bodies of two men in the bed of the pickup truck, both having suffered from gunshot wounds. They were identified by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner’s Office as Colter White, 54, and Sean Pfeffer, 45, both from Boulder Creek.
The two friends’ bodies were found at a mountain ridge turnout along Skyline Boulevard.
Detectives from the CHP’s Golden Gate Division Special Investigations Unit took over the case and worked in concert with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators say that Pfeffer had left a message on Facebook one day before his body was found, identifying the man who would be arrested for his murder.
In the post, Pfeffer said that he was going to see Collier to settle some kind of dispute. Four days before that, Pfeffer had updated his Facebook profile photo.
At 2:10pm on March 23, Pfeffer wrote on his Facebook page, “If today isn’t (sic) work out know that it was James Collier, the piece of crap that I invited to this mountain that still hasn’t left it and is working the f*** out of my f****** cousin. I’m rolling down there right now Jimmy, I hope you shoot me.”
It was Pfeffer’s last social media post.
During their investigation, detectives identified Collier as a suspect in the murders. On April 9, a CHP SWAT team joined detectives and crime scene investigators from the Golden Gate Division Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) and Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office to serve a search warrant at a residence in Santa Cruz County associated with Collier.
On Sunday, April 27, at approximately 6:20am, CHP detectives, with the assistance of a CHP SWAT team, arrested Collier without incident and booked him into the Santa Clara County Jail without bail.
