After judge’s disqualification, double-murder case against East Bay man returns to Fairfield courtroom

After a Vallejo judge’s disqualification, the double-murder case against a 52-year-old Martinez man has been returned to Department 11 in Fairfield for a trial setting and reassignment in the coming weeks.

Richard Raymond Klein, indicted in June by a Solano County grand jury on two counts of murder, appeared in Department 15, Judge Robert Bowers’ courtroom in the Justice Building, on Nov. 6, Solano County Superior Court records show.

During the hearing, Bowers apparently considered a Code of Civil Procedure motion, specifically Code section 170.6, the California law that says a judge can be disqualified from presiding over a criminal trial or civil lawsuit if the judge seems to be prejudiced against one of the attorneys, the defendant or plaintiff.

Orders were then made to transfer the case to Department 11, where a new trial setting and reassignment has been scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 5 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.

Court records also indicated that the case is no longer a capital case; however, special circumstances remain alleged.

Vallejo criminal defense attorney Dustin M. Gordon represents Klein. Martinez-based attorney Jon Christopher Weir also was at the defense table. Deputy District Attorney Bruce Shapiro appeared for the people.

With the indictment, handed down June 30 after four days of testimony, the Solano County District Attorney’s Office was able to combine the two murder cases into one pending trial.

The indictment, which essentially replaced the preliminary hearing process, includes the two murder counts and 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 reflects allegations in the two previously filed criminal complaints, that Klein allegedly committed murder on April 21, 2022, at a gathering on Manzanita Avenue in Fairfield, then allegedly again, on Dec 15, while out of custody on the initial murder charges, committing a fatal shooting in Suisun City.

In the Fairfield case, Klein was originally charged with an enhancement for personally discharging a firearm at the time, leading to the death of Anthony Fuimaono, 56.

Klein was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in the case on Oct. 28, and was held to answer as charged. Some two weeks later and held without bail in Solano County Jail, he was formally arraigned. However, during the proceeding, Gordon asked Bowers to release his client and reduce bail, arguing two constitutional amendments, including the Eighth (excessive bail).

During those proceedings, 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, 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 Potrero Circle. When officers arrived, they found a man 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. He was arrested Jan. 13 at the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.