Man arrested in South Lake Tahoe on suspicion of a 2013 murder

UPDATE: The victim was located on July 23, 2013, walking near the KOA Campground near the Upper Truckee River. He had major injuries and was transported to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on September 16, 2013.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A 38-year-old man who has called the South Lake Tahoe area home for the last several years was arrested on December 13, 2022, after a warrant was issued for his arrest on suspicion of murder.

In 2013, Robert James III was killed on the South Shore and the case became a Cold Case. Investigators from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office (EDSO) reinitiated its investigation and developed new leads. After multiple search warrants and investigative interviews, probable cause was developed for the arrest of Joseph Geisenheimer and a Ramey warrant was issued by EDSO Detective Peek.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) was informed of the warrant. Geisenheimer was familiar to officers and he was spotted inside Safeway on Johnson Boulevard by a Community Service Officer, just two hours after the warrant was issued.

A Ramey warrant is an arrest warrant issued by a judge or magistrate before the prosecutor has filed formal charges, but done so with probable cause.

This is a developing case and there is no further information available at this time.

Geisenheimer is currently being held in the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe on a felony murder charge with no bail.