Three arrested for Ridge murder

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey announced that three men have been charged with the 2008 murder of Paradise resident Eric John Jones. He also confirmed that the men are connected to one of the eight local marijuana dispensaries that were raided a year ago this week.

“It does appear that the three men arrested, part of what they were doing was ripping off marijuana to supply a dispensary,” he said.

Suspects Christopher Phillip Levin, 47, Darrell Leigh Hughes, 50, and William Kurt Breunle, 47, are all from Paradise. On the night of Dec. 28, 2008, Jones and a couple of guests were ambushed by three masked men when they entered the back yard of his mobile home. Part of the incident was recorded on surveillance cameras.

Jones was bound and gagged, and succumbed to traumatic asphyxia. His killers attempted to break into a safe filled with pot and guns.