Cops: Tree Trimmer Returned to Kill His Clients

Update: A tree trimmer in rural Northern California was found guilty in a series of throat-slashing attacks that left three people dead, prosecutors announced Wednesday. A jury in Butte County on Tuesday found Ryan Scott Blinston, 37, guilty of murder, attempted murder and arson, the Tehama County District Attorney's office said. Blinston, of Oroville, faces a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole the AP reports. Prosecutors didn't mention a motive for the crimes other than to say robbery was not a motivating factor. Our original story from May 13, 2021, follows:

A tree trimmer in rural Northern California has been charged in throat-slashing serial killings that left three people dead and a fourth person injured, prosecutors said Thursday. Ryan Scott Blinston, 37, of the small city of Oroville, was charged with murder, attempted murder, and arson, per the AP. The charges included special sentencing allegations that Blinston used a deadly weapon, attacked an elderly victim, and committed multiple killings. He could face life in prison without possibility of parole if convicted. Blinston was working for a tree-trimming service in Butte and Tehama counties, north of Sacramento, last May and June when he returned to the clients' homes after the work was completed and slashed the throats of the residents, according to prosecutors.

Loreen Severs, 88, of Los Molinos died, and her husband, Homer Severs, 91, survived but died that December of an unrelated illness, authorities said. Blinston also is accused of killing Sandra George, 82, and an acquaintance, Vicky Cline, 57, both of Oroville. He also is charged with torching Cline's car. Blinston was arrested before dawn on June 14—about a week after Cline vanished—by a Butte County sheriff's SWAT team that had tracked him to a motorhome in isolated Berry Creek, where authorities planned to arrest him on suspicion of burning Cline's car, prosecutors said. “As the team approached the motorhome, they heard the muffled screams of a man inside and loud banging on the outside of the motorhome. The banging turned out to be Blinston attempting to get into the motorhome with a hatchet," the district attorneys' statement said.

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