Murder investigation launches

A man’s body was found in the orchards west of Chico last week, and local authorities are investigating the case as a homicide.

On the afternoon of Thursday (March 16), a woman called the Butte County Sheriff’s Office to report that she had found a body behind an abandoned silo on Taffee Avenue off Chico River Road, according to BCSO’s events log. Deputies and detectives responded and identified the man through fingerprints as 28-year-old Joseph Strickland of Chico, according to a BSCO release.

“Detectives have not identified a suspect at this time; however, it is believed that this was a targeted incident,” the release reads. The results of an autopsy conducted on Monday (March 20) are pending, said BSCO spokeswoman Megan McMann.