Richard Raymond Klein, 52, of Martinez, appeared in Department 11 during a January proceeding in the Justice Center in Fairfleld. (Reporter file photo/Joel Rosenbaum)
After four days of testimony, a Solano County grand jury last week indicted a jailed 52-year-old Martinez man on two counts of murder committed last year, two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, committing murder while released on his own recognizance, and a special circumstance for committing multiple murders.
The indictment, which came Wednesday, reflects charges that Richard Raymond Klein committed murder on April 21 at a gathering on Manzanita Avenue in Fairfield, then again, on Dec 15, while out of custody on the initial murder charges, committing another murder in Suisun City.
In a press statement issued Thursday, Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams noted her office had filed a felony complaint on May 5 against Klein for the first murder. He also had been charged with an enhancement for personally discharging a firearm at the time, leading to the death of Anthony Fuimaono, 56.
In that case, Klein was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 28 and was held to answer as charged. Some two weeks later, Klein, who was being held without bail in Solano County Jail, was formally arraigned. During the proceeding, Klein’s attorney, Dustin M. Gordon, asked Judge Robert Bowers to release his client and reduce bail, arguing two constitutional amendments, including the eighth (excessive bail), he told The Reporter, as previously reported.
During those proceedings for Klein’s release, Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Flynn objected to Klein’s release and the bail reduction, citing a number of reasons: The risk to public safety, the risk to the safety of the victim’s family, the seriousness of the charge, Klein’s criminal history, his prior prison commitments, and that Klein was previously a validated member of the Nazi Low Riders, a white supremacist prison and criminal street gang with origins in the California Youth Authority. However, Judge Robert Bowers released Klein on a pretrial services contract.
Then, while Klein was out of custody, the Suisun City Police Department on Dec. 15 responded to a shots-fired call in the area of 1244 Potrero Circle. When officers arrived, they found a male on the ground in front of 1244 Potrero Circle suffering from a gunshot wound. Despite life-saving measures by officers and paramedics, Matthew Muller, 37, died.
The Suisun City Police Department investigated the shooting with the help of the Solano County Major Crimes Task Force. The Solano County District Attorney’s Office filed a criminal complaint against Klein on Dec. 23 for the second killing, requesting a no-bail arrest warrant.
After the second shooting, investigators were able to identify Klein as the suspect and locate him. He was taken into custody in Rosarito, Mexico, by U.S. Marshals and Mexican authorities some days after Dec. 15 and returned to the United States.
Also, in the second case, as previously reported, Klein was held on a felony warrant out of Contra Costa County on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of narcotics for sale, possession of a controlled substance while armed, and possession of a controlled substance for sale.
A large man, standing 6 feet 7 inches and weighing 280 pounds, he remains in the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield without bail for the murder allegations and $450,000 in bail on the charges listed in an out-of-county warrant.
The grand jury indictment came after the DA’s Office presented evidence in an effort to combine the cases. Klein was scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on Friday in Department 23 in the Justice Center in Fairfield but Judge John B. Ellis continued the matter, official court records indicate.
Klein is scheduled for a review hearing at 8:30 a.m. July 10 in Department 11 in the Justice Center in Fairfield and a trial setting at 9 a.m. Aug. 7 in Department 15 in the Justice Building in Vallejo.
If convicted at trial for the killings, Klein — who was convicted of a felony in 2006 in Contra Costa County — faces a maximum of 50 years to life for the murders and likely more time for using firearms and being a previously convicted felon.
Originally published at Richard Bammer