15 Jan Murder Mountain
How”Murder Mountain” Got Its Name
Rancho Sequoia is a sub-divion of the unincorporated area of Humboldt County known as Alderpoint. This region took on the name “Murder Mountain” in the early 80’s after the American serial killers Michael and Susan Carson killed a co-worker Clark Stephens. Since this gruesome murder there has been several notable murders and disappearances in the area.
“Murder Mountain” as told by the media
A popular Netflix documentary titled “Murder Mountain” was produced by the team at Lightbox. They primarily delve into the murder of Garret Rodriguez and cover the story of a vigilante group of local residents who seek to get Justice for Garret.
Joe Fasho’s perscetive on “Murder Mountain”
Although, the stories are true. Violence is not something that should be popularized. The unfortunate murders that took place in this region are horrendous. How I came to be interviewed in the documentary is somewhat of an interesting story. I was in my house and I seen a group of individuals walking around filming outside my home. I contacted the individuals and they stated that they were doing a documentary on how legalization has effected the cannabis community of Humboldt County. After some discussion on this topic I told them I’d be willing to do an interview as I am a 2nd generation legacy farmer who was currently navigating the new legal framework recently introduced by the State of California and County of Humboldt. On the day of the interview, I arrived early at a farm I operate and had recently had gotten “legal” in the Rancho Seqouia Subdivision of Alderpoint Ca. This property wold later be the farm which was shown throughout the documentary. The Lightbox team showed up and were very cordial and forthcoming. Hell they even brought lunch catered from a local restaurant Flavors. After some bullshitting we began the interview. Initially I wanted nothing to do with the topic of the violence that had taken place in the area. After about an hour of not getting anywhere in the interview, the show’s director Josh Zeman and myself took a brief break and had a discussion on where this interview was going. After this discussion, I realized this could be an opportunity for myself to shed light on how legalization could be a good thing, as the illicit market had become overran with opportunistic “Green Rushers”, some of which ran their operations in ways I didn’t agree with. The interview was tough for me and at one point I needed to stop and collect myself as Scott Johnson was a very close family friend and his death had effected me deeply. He was major influence on me growing up and was at the time, the only “OG” in the area who started a legal Brand. The guy was a sincere class act. Its no wonder I would look up to him. All and all, I feel the documentary was much more negative than I would of liked it to be. But if there was a lesson to be learned from this documentary is that, clear communication is a much better alternative than acting on assumptions.