A 59-year-old man — Dennis Griffin Pease — has been found guilty of the 2005 cold case murder of a Fresno man and dumping his body in the Cajon Pass. (File Photo)
By G. T. Houts
Dennis Pease (Booking Photo)
San Bernardino, CA – Dennis Griffin Pease, 59, has been found guilty of murdering a Fresno man and dumping his body in the Cajon Pass in 2005.
The cold case was prosecuted in San Bernardino County Superior Court by Deputy District Attorney Denise Yoakum.
Pease is being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga awaiting sentencing on June 10 at 8:30 a.m. in Department S-12.
THE COLD CASE
Willard Eichler (Contributed Photo)
Pease was accused of killing Willard Eichler, 54, and dumping his body on Swarthout Canyon Road in the Cajon Pass, on November 11, 2005.
Swarthout Canyon Road is located east of the I-15 freeway and south of Highway 138.
In 2005, Pease was located driving Eichler’s missing Ford LTD. Pease was arrested for felon in possession of a firearm and sentenced to state prison for one year. At the time of that arrest, authorities didn’t have sufficient evidence to link Pease to the killing.
After his release from prison, Pease was a transient, according to a media release issued by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
In 2011, the Sheriff’s Homicide Cold Case Team took charge of the investigation and completed additional interviews. Evidence from the scene and Eichler’s car was analyzed and linked Pease to the murder.
THE ARREST
A warrant for Pease’s arrest was issued on January 12, 2012, charging him with Eichler’s murder.
On July 18, 2012, Eichler was located by a U. S. Marshal’s Service Fugitive Task Force, he was residing in a transient camp behind a gas station in Orlando, Florida. He was eventually extradited to San Bernardino County where he stood trial for Eichler’s murder.
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