LAKEPORT, Calif. – A trial date early next year has been set for a man arrested this summer for the murder of his traveling companion, whose body he dumped in Lake County.

Mavrick William Fisher, 21, was in court on Tuesday morning for a brief arraignment hearing.

Last month, following his preliminary hearing, Fisher was ordered to stand trial for the murder of 25-year-old Grant David Whitaker of Mackinaw, Illinois, as Lake County News has reported.

The two men, both deaf, had been traveling around California to look for property for a deaf farming community when authorities say they had a disagreement, and Whitaker told Fisher that he intended to part ways.

Investigators have concluded that Fisher killed Whitaker with a blow to the head with a rock at Richardson Grove State Park in Humboldt County on Aug. 20.

Fisher is then believed to have wrapped Whitaker’s body in a sleeping bag and driven the body – in the 2011 Chevrolet Impala that Whitaker had borrowed from his grandmother for the trip – to Lake County, dumping the body at a property on Scotts Valley Road near Lakeport.

Four days later, Whitaker’s grandmother reported him missing in Tazewell County, Illinois, which triggered a search that led to Lake County Sheriff’s deputies finding the Chevy Impala abandoned at the Clearlake Oaks Dollar General.

On Aug. 26 sheriff’s deputies would find Whitaker’s body while serving a search warrant at the Scotts Valley Road location.

Fisher was arrested in Mexico on the same day that Whitaker’s body was recovered and returned to Lake County, where he has remained in custody without bail.

Lake County District Attorney Susan Krones, in working with the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, decided to prosecute the case based on California Penal Code section 790, which grants Lake County jurisdiction because Whitaker’s body was found here.

Krones told Lake County News that Fisher’s trial date has been set for Jan. 2.

However, before then he is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 3 for discussion of a possible settlement in the case, which Krones said is standard procedure. Then, on Dec. 20 he will be in court for a trial assignment appearance.

Krones said the scheduled trial date could change depending on what happens at the Dec. 3 settlement conference.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.