Another change in lawyers postpones next trial in 2016 South Lake Tahoe murder case

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It's been 5 years, two months and 29 days since Dennis "Spike" Wright, Jr. was killed in South Lake Tahoe over a planned sale of 104 pounds of marijuana outside of a motel room.

Local law enforcement quickly rounded up the group of suspects from Vallejo, California to Harrison County, Texas, and Oklahoma City.

Arrested were (Arrest dates and suspect name, age at the time of arrest)

2/16/16 - Tristan Batten, 18, was arrested in Vallejo, Calif.
2/17/16 - Harvest Davidson, 20, of Antioch, Calif. was arrested in Sacramento, Calif.
2/27/16 – Vanessa Muzio, 18, was arrested in New Mexico and has since pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder.
4/19/16 - Domenic Randolph, 22, was arrested in Harrison County, Texas
4/28/16 - Tevarez Lopez, 33, of Georgetown, Calif. was arrested in the County Jail where he was being held on other charges
5/31/16 - Dion Jermaine Vaccaro, 26, was arrested in Oklahoma City.
9/15/16 – Andrew Adams, 25, was arrested in his hometown of Suisun City, Calif.

Six have been incarcerated since their arrests (Muzio has since been released). There have been one trial, approximately 500 court appearances, and thousands of pages of discovery and court documents accumulated. Jailhouse conversations have been transcribed and added to the voluminous stacks of paper. The cases have been held over a time that has seen three different deputy district attorneys and several different attorneys representing the defendants.

On February 25, 2020, a jury of seven men and five women from South Lake Tahoe took just 80 minutes to find Dion Jermaine Vaccaro guilty of murdering Spike and of robbery. He still hasn't been sentenced since he is claiming his attorney at the time, James Clark, provided inadequate representation. His new lawyer needed time to review all of the documents, taking months to get up to speed. He has his next court dates scheduled for May 4 and May 7 for preliminary hearings. Vaccaro is currently in the South Lake Tahoe jail. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Batten had arranged to provide testimony against the other defendants but during Vaccaro's trial refused to testify, knowing his deal for testifying would be off the table. He is now serving his sentence at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione. He too is getting a new attorney and is expected back in court in the future. He was facing 25 years to life.

On May 11, 2021, the five-week trial of suspect Tavarez Lopez was set to begin but on April 28 he substituted his longtime attorney James Warden with a southern California law firm. This means the trial is off and the suspect's next court date is set for June 18, 2021.

El Dorado County Judge Suzanne Kingsbury told the new law team they get 45 days to use their large team of lawyers to get through the documents and report back on the status.

"This can't keep going on, these ups and downs," an emotional Janet Wright said in court April 29. "I want to put Spike to rest." She has made to journey to South Lake Tahoe from the west slope for each of the 500 court appearances.

"It's just wrong," she said.

Dennis "Spike" Wright Jr., who was born in Placerville, spent most of his life in Amador County. He was 45 at the time of the shooting. His mother Janet and father Dennis have been without their son for five birthdays and live with his death daily.

Judge Kingsbury has overseen each court proceeding and said she hoped to see a conclusion for the cases before she retires. She started proceedings with a "plethora of defendants" facing her with their lawyers in the same room. They have since been split up in preparation for their individual trials.

The Judge said she doesn't want to delay court but acknowledges the suspects' constitutional rights and wants all done correctly so they won't see them back after trials, just as Vaccaro is doing.

"I understand the frustration of the victim's family," said Judge Kingsbury. "I'm just the messenger."

At the time of Spike's murder, the law allowed multiple suspects to be arrested for a single murder. Since then, California SB1437 now has limits on who can be prosecuted for murder and felony murder. The three most important features of the law are 1) felony murder can now be prosecuted only when the accused had the intent to kill, 2) there can no longer be convictions for natural and probable consequences murder, and 3) the law is retroactive, meaning people convicted of felony murder under the old law can petition to have their sentences reduced.

Lopez said in a letter sent to South Tahoe Now that he should have been released two years ago due to SB1437.

"I was not present at the scene of the alleged crime nor was I a major participant that acted with reckless indifference to human life," Lopez wrote.

During Vaccaro's trial, a story was told that had Lopez engineering the sale of the marijuana and a planned robbery. That the sale was called off at the last minute in a motel room at the Beverly Lodge, and as Spike and his girlfriend were packing up the 104 pounds of pot into their vehicle they were approached by two men with guns, and Spike was shot and killed. Trial witnesses, documents, and provided text messages said two cars carried all of the suspects (besides Lopez) to South Lake Tahoe. The suspects then met at the Heavenly Lodge before heading back to the bay area where they all resided.

Each defendant in the Wright murder case has waived their rights to a speedy trial since being arrested.

Adams is on the court calendar for trial on August 3, and Randolf on October 26. Davidson is not currently on the calendar and the Lopez trial may be determined after his court date in June.