Missing in the Mountains: obsession, violence and tragedy in a quiet place
By Scott Thomas Anderson Marny Shaffer knew something was wrong almost as soon as she arrived for her daughter. Shaffer had made her way up…
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Chronicle of a death unforetold – a reporter is slain in a major American city
By Scott Thomas Anderson It’s been a surreal week for veteran newspaper journalists. The revelation that Jeff German, an intrepid, blue-collar investigative reporter who wore…
Busted by a bulge: On a traffic stop, ballooning bump in man’s front pants was ‘inconsistent with normal anatomy’
Alleged heroin and meth dealer got hooked after trying to play it like a porn star Is that a massive amount of contraband under your…
Gang member who sold guns at a Sacramento parole office, not surprisingly, didn’t get far
By Scott Thomas Anderson When violating parole to sell stolen weapons and illegal “ghost guns” around town, the lobby of the parole office isn’t be…
The Cold 52: Vicious Sacramento murder solved after half-a-century
A case that investigators never gave up on becomes the oldest homicide ever solved in Sacramento history By Scott Thomas Anderson Reflecting on the ominous…
Analysis: ‘We Own This City’ is the series that both sides of the police reform debate should be talking about
A real story of deep-rooted corruption, questionable incentives and the work of oversight investigators details how problems grow and are confronted in troubled departments …
Sacramento prosecutors get multiple human trafficking convictions, some tied to near-fatal attacks, ‘horrific’ dog abuse
It started when a woman rushed to a fire stationhouse, pleading for help as she bled from deep stab wounds to her stomach. The Sacramento…
Deadly ‘match’: how Tinder brought three into a shared orbit of stalking, torture, white power and an execution linking Rocklin to Rancho Cordova
By Scott Thomas Anderson It was 2 a.m. in the oldest part of Rocklin. Porch lights broke the blackness above some freight lines along Pacific…
‘Operation Bear Trap’ highlights Sacramento’s place in the Nevada gun-trafficking problem
Alleged conspiracy had meth flowing to Tahoe through the Capital City, guns flowing there from the capitol of the Silver State Five years ago, the…
Man who committed a series of rapes in homeless camps along Sacramento’s American River found guilty
By Scott Thomas Anderson The extreme vulnerability people face in an outdoor existence was on grim display last month, after a Sacramento jury convicted 40-year-old…
Vindicating the vanished: Fifteen years after a modern-day gold seeker went missing, detectives across the West close a murder saga
By Scott Thomas Anderson The Yavapai County Sheriff’s cold case unit gathered over a scar chopped into the rocky red earth along a hill. It…
Testimony in Sacramento about a Dark Web corridor where fentanyl disguised as Oxy gets trafficked for Bitcoin
On the same week CDC announced that 2021 was the worst year ever for fatal drug overdoses in the U.S., prosecutors in Sacramento walked a…
Man who ambushed, executed Sacramento librarian convicted of 1st-Degree Murder
Senseless killing led family into gun violence prevention work The deranged stalker who left Natomas in fear, Sacramento’s libraries in shock and a family in…
Revisiting the Watch: In the wake of a numbing, gang-related murder, the Hawk Institute keeps pulling youth triumphs from the shadow of tragedy
Following the horrific mass-causality event in Downtown Sacramento on April 3, community interest in meaningful gang-prevention initiatives is at an all-time high. The following in…
It was Saturday night: The shadow of death
A slow return to the scene that changed everything By Scott Thomas Anderson They just prayed their way through the wind. It was the first…
Editorial: ‘True at first light’
Sunday morning was like a bad dream. But not a person’s rough, restless hours in the dark, rather the horrible hallucination of an entire living city….
Sacramento’s worst sunrise: Pre-dawn scenes from a nightmare that left 18 people shot
At least six people are dead, 12 hospitalized, as detectives search for answers By Scott Thomas Anderson Fred Harris woke up just after 2…