Man linked to white supremacist group booked on murder charge in Fresno, sheriff says
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man with ties to a white supremacist group on suspicion of killing a man west of Fresno last month.
Brandon Engelman, 40, of Coarsegold was charged with murder and kidnapping, according to the sheriff’s office. The charges involve separate cases.
Engelman is accused of killing 56-year-old Pacer Hampton of Fresno. Hampton was found in a car on Olive Avenue just west of Fresno on April 14 after suffering gunshot wounds.
It was the first homicide of the year in unincorporated Fresno County.
The kidnapping charge against Engelman is unrelated to Hampton and involved a family member, Sheriff Margaret Mims said Friday. Kidnapping allegations were discovered during the homicide investigation.
The case started around 2:15 p.m. April 13 when a man was found inside a car. He looked to be slumped over or asleep at the wheel in the 5590 block of West Olive Avenue, a worker who found the body told the sheriff’s office. Arriving authorities, however, confirmed the man was dead from an apparent gunshot wound.
Homicide detectives then identified a vehicle that may have been involved from surveillance video and the sheriff’s office started getting tips about a potential shooter, Mims said.
Search warrants were served at homes in Coarsegold and Fresno. Deputies arrested Engelman in a neighborhood near Ashlan and Marks avenues in Fresno on Tuesday.
A white Chevy Tahoe was recovered that was previously identified.
Detectives believe others may be involved in the homicide but that Engelman was the shooter who targeted Hampton.
A motive has not been determined, though Mims said Hampton and Engelman had a “long-going” dispute: “They had a disagreement and didn’t like each other.”
Mims said it was a car-to-car shooting, but deputies didn’t get a call of Hampton being shot and killed for 13 hours.
“Anytime there is a delay in the time a homicide occurs to the time it is reported to us, that is precious time,” Mims said. “In spite of that, the detectives were able to work through it and come up with the suspect and make an arrest.”
Mims said Engelman has ties to the white supremacist gang Fresneck.
The group is known to Fresno-area authorities, who arrested members of the group most recently in November as part of a multi-agency investigation into the gang and its connection to the Aryan Brotherhood and illegal activity within the California prison system.
In addition, in 2018 Fresno police announced the arrest of 37 members of the gang. Charges in those cases included kidnapping, robbery, assault, home invasion and rape.
At the time, then-Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said the gang had been operating in Fresno for almost two decades. The gang, Dyer said then, is comprised of mostly whites who align with the Aryan Brotherhood and other white supremacy gangs when they are in prison.
Other violent crimes
Engelman was arraigned Friday morning for kidnapping, elder abuse and domestic violence that previously occurred and were unknown before the investigation began, Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp said.
He faces up to 45 years to life for those crimes.
Smittcamp said Engelman has three prior serious offenses in his criminal history. His prior strikes are for home invasion robbery, criminal threats and residential burglary.
“Thanks to MAGEC and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department, along with the partners mentioned, we have taken a very dangerous man who is associated with the white supremacist groups of gangs here in Fresno off of the streets,” Smittcamp said.
Engelman is expected to be arraigned for the murder charge in Fresno County Superior Court on Tuesday.
Mims said Engelman lived in one of the homes that was searched and frequently visited another.
Engelman’s bail is set at $1 million on the murder charge and $100,000 for kidnapping.
Anyone with information about the crimes can call the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and remain anonymous by calling detective Gary Haslam at 559-600-8209 or Valley Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867 or by going online to valleycrimestoppers.org.
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 2:40 PM.
