Murder charge filed in California body-in-barrel case


Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a 40-year-old man used a hammer to kill another man, stuffed his body inside a plastic barrel and dumped it in front of the Santa Rosa, California, city hall.

Prosecutors charged Christopher McNatt on Tuesday with murder with the special allegation of using a hammer in the slaying of 64-year-old Ronald Sauvageau. The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa reports (http://bit.ly/1EYBNhp) that McNatt appeared in court, but he did not enter a plea.

McNatt was due back in court on Thursday.

The blood-stained barrel was covered with a plastic tarp when it was discarded in front of Sonoma's city hall late Friday in California wine country. McNatt was arrested the next day.

Sheriff's officials have not disclosed a possible motive or what, if any, relationship McNatt and Sauvageau had.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
    Newsletter Signup

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button