SAN FRANCISCO — Authorities have recovered the gun believed to be the one used to kill a popular tantra yoga teacher when they arrested three young people in Oregon traveling in the victim’s car, a sheriff’s spokesman said Thursday.
Marin County Sheriff’s Lt. Doug Pittman said the three suspects will be extradited to California after investigators tracked them from the homicide scene at a scenic hiking trail 20 miles north of San Francisco to a community dining hall 600 miles away in Portland, Oregon.
Pittman declined to discuss the type of gun recovered and any more details, including a possible motive for the killing of Steve Carter on Monday evening near Fairfax, California. “It’s still very early in our investigation,” Pittman said.
Authorities identified the suspects as Sean Michael Angold, 24, Morrison Haze Lampley, 23, and Lila Scott Allgood, 18. The sheriff’s office said none of the suspects has a known permanent address.
No charges have been filed. The trio may be transferred to a Marin County jail sometime next week, Pittman said.
A hiker found Carter’s body about 6 p.m. Monday. Carter was still holding the leash of his dog, which was also shot. Carter’s Doberman pinscher was turned over to the Marin County Humane Society and is expected to recover.
Carter drove to the trail, and his 2003 Volkswagen station wagon was gone when police showed up. Using GPS technology, Marin County sheriff’s investigators tracked the car to Portland, where the three were arrested without incident.
Pittman said investigators were also aided by surveillance footage from a gas station in Point Reyes that showed the suspects with the stolen car about a half-hour after the slaying.
“So many people are in possession of cameras in cars, homes, businesses,” he said. “Those types of systems became crucial to the pursuit and apprehension.”
Authorities have not provided a motive for the attack and said it did not appear the suspects knew the victim. Pittman said it was unclear if Carter might have been targeted for his car or other belongings.
Followers credited Carter with improving their romantic relationships by teaching tantra, a philosophy of meditation, yoga and sexuality famously embraced by rock star Sting.
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Associated Press writer Sudhin Thanawala contributed to this story from San Rafael, California.
