COALINGA — A 39-year-old man was killed on a prison yard here, and the suspect is a Contra Costa County man serving life for killing his friend, then attempting to murder a BART officer in 2015, authorities said.
Charles Goetting, 34, allegedly used an “inmate manufactured weapon” to kill Richard Derderian, an Orange County native. The attack occurred around 10:45 a.m. Friday at Pleasant Valley State Prison, according to a news release by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Goetting was the suspect in a gruesome 2015 killing that led to a shootout with police on Christmas Day of that year. It started when he shot and killed 40-year-old Colin Anderson, but precisely when or where the shooting happened is not known. Goetting stuck Anderson’s body in a rented moving truck and was en route to bury it when he stopped at the Hayward BART station.
There, BART Officers Timothy Eads and Carlos Dazhan stumbled upon the truck and told Goetting they wanted to search it. That’s when Goetting pulled his pistol and began shooting, striking Eads in the arm, before the officers returned fire and shot Goetting several times. The incident was captured on the officers’ body cameras.
At his 2021 trial, Goetting was convicted of attempted murder of Eads, but jurors hung on a murder charge. The defense argued Anderson and Goetting were close friends who argued while desperate to feed their heroin habits, and that Goetting shot Anderson in self-defense.
The legal victory was short-lived; Goetting eventually pleaded no contest to murder and was sentenced to 35 years to life.
Derderian was nearly finished with a five-year prison term for involvement in a Southern California home invasion robbery where more than $200,000 was stolen.
Authorities say the Fresno District Attorney will review the case and determine whether to charge Goetting once the CDCR investigation is completed. Authorities have not commented on a motive, nor said if the homicide appears to be related to prison gangs.
Source: www.mercurynews.com