WillMar announces new executive director
After 15 months, Annie Bauer, interim executive director at the WillMar Center for Bereaved Children is stepping down to make way for a new, long term executive director.
Patti Cawood will take the reigns to lead the organization. Cawood is described as a young, energetic dynamo with non-profit experience and a superlative record of accomplished fundraising.
Bauer will continue to be an avid supporter of WillMar, both financially and as a volunteer. Having completed the work she was hired to do, Bauer says that the time is perfect for a new leader to carry on.
Cawood will begin work in her new position in mid-August.
May 9 shooting suspect – unfit to stand trial
Salvador Carmargo, 26, is the man accused of murder in the May 9 shooting death of Kenneth Swolley, 52. Carmargo allegedly shot Swolley at a home in the 21400 block of Arnold Drive. A psychiatrist examined Carmargo on two separate occasions and declared him unfit to stand trial. At a hearing on July 31, a judge will determine where Carmago will be sent for treatment until he is deemed competent to stand trial. His charges include murder and discharging a firearm.
Mooney found guilty in grandfather’s murder
Sean Patrick Mooney, 21, has been found guilty of killing his grandfather, Robert Deming, 77, last May. Deming was shot in the back of the head with a shotgun at his residence on Bonneau Road.
A Sonoma County jury pronounced the Chico man guilty of first-degree murder for financial gain. The decision could mean a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
On May 20, 2008, Deming was killed by a shotgun blast to the head at close range. Mooney’s first explanation to police was that armed intruders had come into Deming’s home on Bonneau Road, shooting and killing his grandfather before driving off. He then said that he accidentally fired the stolen 12-gauge shotgun as he jumped onto a bed and tried to throw the gun across the room to stop Deming from trying to kill himself.
Mooney later admitted to lying about these explanations. Unemployed and with a secret and pregnant fiancée, Mooney was suspected of killing his grandfather for the insurance money.
Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 19.
