Suspect Wanted In Oyler Jury Tampering Case Surrenders

Add Feedback

Share |

Corona, California

46-year old Christopher Vaughn Hillman, the brother-in-law of convicted murderer and death row inmate Raymond Lee Oyler, has turned himself in after being wanted on charges of jury tampering.

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office launched a statewide search for Hillman earlier this week after he fled his home in the San Bernardino County high desert community of Hesperia just minutes before investigators were to serve him with a search warrant.

Hillman faces seven felony counts for allegedly placing flyers on windshields of jury members who were hearing the Oyler murder case in February of this year in a Riverside County Hall of Justice parking lot in Riverside.

The District Attorney's Office says the flyers contained photo copies of newspaper articles describing various pre-trial rulings which prevented Oyler's defense team from introducing certain evidence.

Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco announced that once inside Hillman's home investigators uncovered strong evidence linking him to the flyers.

The alleged evidence prompted Pacheco's office to file the jury tampering charges as well as a judge to issue a $100,000 arrest warrant.

A $10,000 reward was also posted by the DA's office for Hillman's arrest and conviction of the charges against him.

District Attorney's Office spokesman Ryan Hightower tells FDNNTV Hillman surrendered to police in Corona following widespread media coverage this week of search efforts for the wanted suspect which included a photograph.

According to Hightower, Hillman has since posted bail of $100,000 and is now free pending his arraignment on October 29th in Riverside Superior Court.

Oyler was convicted and sentenced to death earlier this year for setting the Esperanza wildfire in the southern portion of the San Bernardino National Forest in October of 2006 in which five U. S. Forest  Service firefighters perished.


Author:Bill Lorin - FDNNTV.com