Prosecution presents detectives' interviews with man accused of stabbing neighbor to death

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The jury in the murder trial of a Lakeport man spent Friday listening to audio and watching video of his interrogations with sheriff's investigators in the hours after he is alleged to have stabbed a neighbor to death, believing wrongly that the man was a child molester.

Ivan Garcia Oliver, 34, is on trial for the death of 67-year-old Michael Dodele, who he allegedly stabbed 60 times on Nov. 20, 2007.

The fatal confrontation occurred just days after Oliver discovered that Dodele was listed on the Megan's Law sex offender registration Web site. Oliver mistakenly concluded that Dodele was a child molester, but he actually had served prison time for raping an adult female.

The defense alleges that Dodele was killed during a fight that erupted after Oliver confronted him.

Corey Paulich, a longtime Lake County Sheriff's deputy and the case's lead detective, had begun testimony late Thursday afternoon and continued on Friday morning, discussing blood evidence found in Oliver's home, the discovery of Dodele's cell phone and two knives Oliver is believed to have thrown out the window of his bathroom.

At the request of Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, Paulich removed the two knives in their plastic canisters from the bags in which they had been packaged as evidence. He said blood was found on one of the knives.

Inside a white Buick parked next to Oliver's home at the Western Hills Mobile Home Park investigators found a half-full bleach bottle with blood on the bottom of it, which had been placed behind the driver's seat, and blood-stained clothes and a blanket in the trunk.

Paulich attended Dodele's autopsy at the Napa County Sheriff-Coroner's Office a week after his death. They found a small folded blade knife in his pocket, which was closed and had no blood on it, he said.

Hinchcliff played a 13-minute audio recording of Oliver speaking to Paulich and other deputies after being taken into custody at his residence, which was across from Dodele's trailer.

At first he refused to tell them his name. Speaking quickly and frequently repeating himself, his sentences peppered with profanity, Oliver alleged that Dodele had tried to hurt his 4-year-old son. Deputies could be heard telling him to calm down.

When asked his first name, he responded, “Sunshine.”

He followed by saying, “I did it,” and finally gave his correct first name.

The video of his interview at the sheriff's office later on the day of the stabbing had Oliver pacing around the interview room, wearing a beanie and a denim coat, with no shirt underneath.

He appeared agitated, frequently got up and down, fidgeted, rocked back and forth in his chair and stepped through the handcuffs so his hands were in front of him. His right hand, which he is alleged to have injured during the stabbing, was heavily bandaged.

Deputies gave him water, and later brought him a hamburger, chips and soda, and let him smoke cigarettes.

Paulich and Deputy Brian Kenner asked Oliver if he knew he was under arrest “for what went down.”

“What are you talking about?” Oliver replied.

They pressed him on what happened with Dodele, and his accusations that Dodele touched his young son.

“You're wasting your time, man,” Oliver told investigators. He also told them they were asking him stupid questions.

Paulich and Kenner frequently came and went from the room. Oliver would sit for a time then go and knock on the door to begin speaking with them again.

At one point, with Paulich and Kenner having sat nearby in silence for some time, Oliver blurted out, “I killed a man. I killed a man. I killed a man.”

He repeated his allegation that Dodele had touched his son. “I'm a father. I reacted like any father would react.”

“How did you kill him?” Paulich asked.

Oliver didn't respond.

Another lengthy silence was punctuated by a rapid response. “It was in the blink of an eye. It was in the blink of an eye,” he said, but would offer no details on how it happened.

At another point he got angry with detectives, who he accused of “fishing.”

“Ask me a direct question,” he said, yet didn't offer straight answers when they pressed him on details of the physical assault on Dodele.

Kenner asked Oliver if he grabbed Dodele. Oliver put his head down and didn't respond.

“I just want to know what this guy did to your kid,” said Kenner.

Oliver, in the portions of the interview shown Friday, didn't tell them.

“What do you want me to say, what do you expect me to say?” he asked.

Testimony will resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

High speed chase suspect arrested

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Lakeport man who last weekend led California Highway Patrol officers on a high speed chase before crashing into a power pole and escaping on foot has been arrested.

Dylan Eugene Waters, 26, was arrested Thursday night, according to the CHP.

He'd been sought for felony evasion and hit and run following the chase and crash on Sunday, July 22.

CHP officers had spotted Waters allegedly holding a meth pipe as he passed the site of a rollover collision on Highway 29 near Kelseyville, as Lake County News has reported.

Waters allegedly refused to stop at their command and led them on a high speed pursuit that ended on Cruickshank Road, when Waters lost control in a turn and hit a power pole, according to the CHP.

Since then, the CHP had conducted an extensive search for Waters.

At 10 p.m. Thursday CHP Officers Brendan Bach and Christopher Tuggle received an anonymous tip that Waters possibly was staying at the Lamplighter Motel, located at 14165 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake, the agency reported.

Bach and Tuggle responded to the motel and observed Waters on the upstairs walkway, according to the report.

They directed Waters to stay where he was, but the report said he fled to a nearby room, where Tuggle and Bach made entry and ordered him to come out. Waters was arrested without further incident.

During a search of Waters, Bach and Tuggle found what they suspected to be marijuana and methamphetamine.

Waters was transported to the Lake County Jail, where he was booked on felony counts of evading a peace officer, possession of concentrated cannabis, possession of a controlled substance, and misdemeanors of obstructing or resisting a peace officer and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Jail records indicated his bail was set at $100,000.

In a separate incident, Waters had been the driver in a fatal crash early on the morning of Tuesday, July 3, that claimed the lives of his brother, Kenneth Waters of Kelseyville, and Randy Orange of Clearlake Oaks.

Judge turns down second restraining order request regarding county's urgency marijuana ordinance

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Friday a judge denied a father and son from Lucerne their request for a temporary restraining order against the county, finding their arguments about irreparable harm due to the county's marijuana cultivation ordinance weren't substantiated.

Conrad Kiczenski, 21, and his father, Ron, 48, went before Judge David Herrick a day after filing their claim against the county and Sheriff Frank Rivero.

They represented themselves in the short hearing. Senior Deputy County Counsel Bob Bridges represented the county.

The county's interim urgency marijuana cultivation ordinance, sets limits on plants according to parcel size and location.

The ordinance sets limits on marijuana cultivation, allowing for up to six plants to be grown outdoors on a half acre or less, 12 plants with a 75-foot setback on parcels of half an acre to one acre, 18 plants and a 150-foot setback on parcels one to five acres in size, 36 plants and a minimum 150 foot setback on five- to 40-acre parcels, and a maximum of 48 plants on parcels 40 acres and larger.

Based on those numbers, the Kiczenskis – who live on a small residential lot – said they currently are out of compliance.

The Kiczenskis also asserted that the county was exceeding its authority by enforcing California’s Uniform Controlled Substances Act, and maintained that possession, planting and cultivation of cannabis is their religious duty, according to their case filings.

“I'm not a mind reader,” Ron Kiczenski said, adding that he has no idea of the sheriff is going to come and eradicate his plants. “All I know is we're currently in violation of what they say is the law at this point.”

If the county took the Kiczenskis' medicine and plants, “There'd be no way to replace anything,” Ron Kiczenski said, adding they can't afford to purchase marijuana from a dispensary.

Even more serious would be the loss of their seeds and the genetics they've worked to establish over the past five years, he said. “It would be lost forever. The DNA cannot be recovered.”

Herrick said the county's ordinance didn't address seeds, genetic experimentation or plant breeding. Ron Kiczenski said he was correct.

The chief problem with the case, said Herrick, was that he couldn’t deal with statutes that potentially would affect a person's ability to possess seeds; it was just the ordinance that he could consider.

He also said he could not tell the sheriff not to enforce the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

Conrad Kiczenski alleged that the law was not for the public benefit. Herrick said that view doesn't agree with the conclusions of the appellate courts.

Bridges said the Kiczenskis' complaint was not verified, and did not allege specific facts. He said what they were seeking went way beyond the Compassionate Use Act, suggesting they wanted a blanket exemption from state law.

He said the issues they raised in their suit over use of cannabis and hemp for clothing, paper and food also aren’t covered by the Compassionate Use Act. “This is just flawed,” said Bridges.

Herrick told the Kiczenskis that calling a complaint a verified didn't make it so, and that they failed to make a sufficient showing of harm.

He said the Compassionate Use Act didn't offer protections for religious beliefs, explaining that it's a defense to criminal charges.

Herrick concluded that the Kiczenskis didn't provide sufficient evidence to prove their case, and denied their application for the temporary restraining order. They could, he said, still push forward with seeking a preliminary or permanent injunction against the county.

This isn’t Ron Kiczenski’s first attempt at litigating over marijuana.

In 2003 he filed a complaint with the United States District Court, Eastern District of California seeking an injunction against the Justice Department to prevent his prosecution for possessing and planting hemp and cannabis.

The court later denied his case, and in 2007 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .