Nolen Buchanan found guilty on three counts of 1st degree murder

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - An El Dorado County jury of five women and seven men deliberated about two hours Wednesday, coming back with a quick verdict in the case of Nolen Keith Buchanan, the Benicia, California teen that had been accused of killing his family and setting their cabin on fire to cover his tracks.

They found Buchanan, who was 16-years-old at the time of the crimes, guilty on three counts of first degree murder and three special allegations that he personally used a firearm with intent to discharge, causing death.

The charred remains of Adam Buchanan, 38, Molly McAffee, 37, and their eight-year-old son Gavin Buchanan were found in a cabin in the El Dorado County community of Greenwood on September 13, 2015.

Nolen was arrested on October 1, 2015 and has been in both the Juvenile Treatment Center and County Jail in South Lake Tahoe since that time.

On Tuesday, June 12, the jury heard from a rebuttal witness, and then on Wednesday, the jury heard closing statements from defense attorney Lori London and the Deputy District Attorney Jamie Pesce before getting their final instructions from Judge Suzanne Kingsbury at about 11:30 a.m.

By 2:00 p.m., the guilty verdicts were in.

Buchanan will be sentenced on July 12.

During the morning statements, Pesce told the jury that September 14, 2015, was the best day in the life of Nolen.

"He woke up with a girlfriend and was the owner of Buchanan Construction," she said. "he was about to inherit the family cars, house and business."

At 10:00 a.m. on September 13, 2015, Garden Valley Fire Department personnel responded to a wildland fire in the community of Greenwood in western El Dorado County, on Highway 193 between Cool and Georgetown. Upon arrival they found a residence still smoldering, but burned to the ground.

Nolen was at the cabin with his family, having arrived on September 11 after leaving their home in Benicia. They drove up in the family's F150 truck, spent Saturday working on the cabin, and then that night Molly and Adam went to a favorite bar, The Valencia Club, in Penryn, about a 30 minute drive from the cabin.

Pesce told jurors that Nolen shot and killed his younger brother, then waited for the other two to return that night. At 2:32 a.m. Sunday morning, road cameras showed the F150 heading back to the cabin after being at the bar. At 3:33 a.m., cameras saw the same F150 heading to the bay area. The first sighting had Adam and Molly in the truck, the second had just Nolen. In that hour, he was found to have killed the adults, grabbed gasoline and doused the cabin with it, then lit it on fire and left.

Testimony showed that Adam was abusive and mean towards Nolen, Gavin and Molly, and the defense tried to prove that it was Adam that shot Gavin and Molly after a night at the bar, and that Nolen fought back, wrestled the shotgun from his dad and shot him, thinking he was an intruder. In a panic as he realized what happened, London attempted to show jurors that the teenager reacted by burning down the cabin in a panic, and headed home.

"He was a scared boy who witnessed murder of his stepmother and brother," said London. "Instincts saved his own life but in turn his dad lost his."

She tried to show that Nolen's actions weren't premeditated, and if they were why wouldn't Nolen have shot everyone as they slept?

Molly kept journals that outlined a life of abuse by Adam, and Molly's mother told the court she feared he'd kill her daughter.

"From her grave Molly said who killed her and Gavin," said London of the shared journal pages.

The prosecution proved that Nolen had a plan, starting with internet searches of night vision goggles (the cabin was without electricity), safe cracking and arson. During the trial Nolen's grandfather said he was told by Nolen, "I did it grandpa, I killed Gavin," so the young boy wouldn't have to grow up with a chaotic household as he did.

She was also able to prove that Nolen used his dad's debit cards after the morning of September 13, items that would have been in his dad's wallet. Molly's purse, Adam's wallet and the shotgun used in the murders were found by chance in a field near the family business by a group of citizen's cleaning the lot. Nolen's fingerprints were on the rifle.

"The evidence shows he killed his entire family," said Pesce as she closed. "It was willful, deliberate and premeditated murder of the Buchanan family."