The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office has charged a Forestville man with the murders of a Midwest couple on a secluded beach near Jenner in 2004.
Shaun Gallon, 39, was charged Friday with killing Lindsay Cutshall, 22, of Ohio, and Jason Allen, 26, of Michigan, around Aug. 18, 2004. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office had announced his arrest in the case on May 5, 2017.
The Sonoma Coast beach murder charges are included in a first amended complaint that also charges Gallon with the shooting murder of his brother Shamus Michael Gallon, 36, in Forestville on March 24, 2017, and the attempted murder bombing of John Robles and/or Paroneh Level in Guerneville on June 10, 2004.
The complaint states an assault rifle was used in all three slayings. Detectives talked to Gallon after his arrest for his brother's murder, and he told them information only Cutshall's and Allen's killer would know, according to the sheriff's office.
Cutshall and Allen were in California working at a Christian youth whitewater rafting camp in El Dorado County in August 2004. They went on a three-day sightseeing trip in Northern California that included a visit to Fish Head Beach near Jenner. Their bodies were found in their sleeping bags on Aug. 18.
In the earlier case from 2004, Robles and Level were in a relationship, and it's believed the bomb was intended for Robles. The device exploded when Level moved the package containing the device after it was left on top of a vehicle, prosecutors said. Level suffered hand, arm and facial injuries.
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Shamus Gallon was shot and died in the family's home in the 9800 block of River Road. The brothers' mother reported the shooting to the sheriff's office and informed them Shaun Gallon was driving a Ford Aerostar minivan. Gallon was taken into custody at a convenience market.
The three murders and the attempted murder were consolidated in one complaint because they are the same class of crimes and the evidence in the murder cases are "cross-admissible," Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Brady said Wednesday morning.
"It was not our goal to have separate trials," Brady said.
Gallon appeared in court Monday but did not enter a plea. His next Sonoma County Superior Court date is June 19 for plea and setting of a preliminary hearing on the charges.
