Suspects in tantra teacher’s death booked on murder warrants

Published 10:00 am Friday, October 9, 2015

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Three young people suspected in the shooting death of a tantra yoga teacher in Northern California have been booked on murder warrants, police said Thursday.

Portland, Ore., police said that 23-year-old Morrison Haze Lampley, 24-year-old Sean Michael Angold and 18-year-old Lila Scott Alligood were booked into the Multnomah County Jail and will be arraigned on Friday.

The three are suspected in the death of Steve Carter, whose body was found Monday along a scenic hiking trail 20 miles north of San Francisco.

The suspects were arrested in Portland, several hundred miles north, after authorities allegedly tracked them traveling in the victim’s car.

Earlier Thursday, officials said they had recovered the gun believed to be the one used to kill the popular teacher in Marin County when they made the arrests in Oregon.

Marin County Sheriff’s Lt. Doug Pittman said the three suspects will be extradited to California.

Pittman declined to discuss the type of gun recovered and any more details, including a possible motive for the killing of Steve Carter on Monday evening near Fairfax, California. “It’s still very early in our investigation,” Pittman said.

Authorities have described the suspects as drifters and said none has a known permanent address.

The trio may be transferred to a Marin County jail sometime next week, Pittman said.

A hiker found Carter’s body about 6 p.m. Monday. Carter was still holding the leash of his dog, which was also shot. Carter’s Doberman pinscher was turned over to the Marin County Humane Society and is expected to recover.

Carter drove to the trail, and his 2003 Volkswagen station wagon was gone when police showed up. Using GPS technology, Marin County sheriff’s investigators tracked the car to Portland, where the three were arrested without incident.

Pittman said investigators were also aided by surveillance footage from a gas station in Point Reyes that showed the suspects with the stolen car about a half-hour after the slaying.

“So many people are in possession of cameras in cars, homes, businesses,” he said. “Those types of systems became crucial to the pursuit and apprehension.”

Authorities have said it did not appear the suspects knew the victim. Pittman said it was unclear if Carter might have been targeted for his car or other belongings.

Followers credited Carter with improving their romantic relationships by teaching tantra, a philosophy of meditation, yoga and sexuality famously embraced by rock star Sting.