California police seek 3 men approached by suspect in string of murders

For about 20 years Reggie Clark got around Eureka, Calif., on a bicycle.

Then about a month ago, his friends and a local dealership helped Clark, 53, get a pickup.

“He was absolutely delighted about that truck,” Eureka Police detective Ronald Harpham said Friday.

Clark also like

ly was fatally shot over his truck. The suspected killers, David “Joey” Pedersen and his girlfriend, Holly Grigsby, allegedly admitted that they carjacked and shot Clark on Oct. 4 after meeting him at a grocery store.

Pedersen, 31, and Grigsby, 24, also are suspects in a double homicide in Everett and the shooting death of an Oregon teenager. They are being held without bail in Yuba County Jail in Marysville, Calif.

Plans are under way to return them to Washington where they are charged with aggravated murder in the deaths of Pedersen’s father, David “Red” Pedersen, and his wife, Leslie “DeeDee” Pedersen.

Joey Pedersen reportedly confessed to killing his estranged father over allegations that the elder Pedersen molested family members. Everett police said investigators have not confirmed those claims.

Investigators working the cases Friday said that they are trying to retrace the couple’s steps during a three-state, two-week string of crimes. The couple were arrested Oct. 5 about 50 miles north of Sacramento. They were driving a car belonging to Cody Myers, a 19-year-old college student whose body was discovered in a wooded area in Oregon.

Investigators in Oregon said on Friday that they had received a tip that the pair might have been in the Devil’s Punch Bowl area, a state park on the coast that features unique rock formations. Detectives also continue to search for anyone who attended a jazz festival in Newport. They believe Myers encountered the pair somewhere in the area on Oct. 1.

Eureka investigators on Friday released pictures of three men who might have been approached by Grigsby outside a California grocery store the night Clark was shot. Video surveillance footage shows someone parking Myers’ car in the lot. A woman who appears to be Grigsby approached three different white men before encountering Clark, who was black.

Clark had gotten work for the week and went into the store to get something for lunch, Harpham said.

The video showed Clark walking off with Grigsby, the detective said.

Three days later, Clark was found dead in his beloved pickup truck, just a couple of blocks from the grocery store. He had been shot in head.

Detectives are hoping to talk to the other three men who encountered Grigsby. What did she say? What did she want?

Harpham and his partner spoke with the suspects last week after learning that the pair had allegedly confessed to killing a “black man” in Eureka.

The suspects allegedly had intended to take Clark’s truck but later decided to leave the vehicle behind. They decided the truck would draw police attention, Harpham said. Video shows someone drive off in Myers’ car about two hours after Clark encountered Grigsby, the detective added.

In an interview with a reporter for the Appeal-Democrat newspaper in Marysville, Calif., Grigsby, who reportedly has drug problems of her own, accused Clark of using drugs. She and Pedersen viewed that as a danger to children.

The self-proclaimed white supremacist told the newspaper that she hoped her actions would inspire others who share her beliefs.

According to court papers, Grigsby allegedly told a detective she and Pedersen were on their way to Sacramento to “kill more Jews” when they were arrested in Northern California. They are accused of killing Myers because they believed he was Jewish. He was a devout Christian.

Harpham said on Friday that Clark had moved to Eureka about 20 years ago and hadn’t been in any trouble with police. He did odd jobs and loved to visit his friends. He lived in a home for those with disabilities and had regular contact with a social worker who delivered his medications once a week.

His friends told authorities that Clark was grateful to have a truck and had been using it to help them haul off garbage.

He is dead because “he had the worst kind of luck and came across this demon duo,” the detective said.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.