Baymiller sentenced for father's murder

A Los Molinos man who admitted killing his 89-year-old father has been sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison.

William Holt Baymiller, 55, gave no reaction when Tehama County Superior Court Judge Richard Scheuler handed down the sentence on Tuesday, said Tehama County Assistant District Attorney Randy Alvey, who prosecuted the case.

"Mr. Baymiller received 15 years to life for second-degree murder and an additional 10 years for a special allegation of personal use of a firearm," Alvey said.

Baymiller admitted to shooting his father, Fredrick Hamilton Baymiller, in their Lyal Road home on Sept. 4, 2008, but tried to use an insanity plea as his defense. He claimed his father was involved with Muslims plotting to kill him.

In January, Scheuler ruled Baymiller was "sane at the time of the act, and guilty as charged."

The judge said his ruling was based on his belief Baymiller was in a mentally deficient state at the time of the murder brought on by the use of methamphetamine, which created a paranoia that "mushroomed out of control."

"Bill (Baymiller) seems to be co flicted and regrets his moral violation," Scheuler said. "His actions were induced by methamphetamine abuse and not due to legal insanity. He was legally sane at the time of the offense."

Alvey said Baymiller's attorney, Grady Davis, gave no argument in his client's defense during the sentencing hearing, except to say, "I don't see there is any wiggle room here."

Davis said he plans to appeal the sentence and the sanity ruling.

On the day of the murder, the Tehama County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from a neighbor who said Baymiller showed up at his house and claimed he had just shot and killed his dad.

Sheriff's deputies found Baymiller at his father's home armed with a shotgun.

Following a brief standoff, the sheriff's deputies took Baymiller into custody, and he was booked into the Tehama County Jail.

The elderly Baymiller was located in a bedroom of the home with a gunshot wound to the chest.

Alvey said it's on record that Baymiller was having problems with his "aging father," and a Department of Justice report shows he had used methamphetamine in the "recent past."

Scheuler said Baymiller believed there was a conspiracy to take his identity and he questioned his father about a book on Muslims the elderly man had beside his bed.

"When he couldn't get the answers to his questions, the defendant got a gun and shot his father," the judge said.