California tree trimmer accused of being serial killer who slashed throats of victims

Alleged serial killer arrested as he attempted to hack his way back into motorhome of man he stabbed in neck and wrist

This undated photo shows Ryan Scott Blinston, a tree trimmer in rural California charged with a series of throat-slashing serial killings. (Butte County District Attorney via AP)

A tree trimmer in northern California has been accused by prosecutors of being a throat-slashing serial killer, allegedly taking three lives in the last year and attempting to murder another two.

Ryan Scott Blinson from Oroville north of Sacramento has been charged with three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in Butte County Superior Court.

The alleged killings took place in May and June 2020. The 37-year-old was already in jail for one of the attempted murders when he was charged with the four other counts.

Mr Blinston was arrested in June for attempted murder after he allegedly cut the throat of a man. According to district attorneys, he was working for a tree-trimming company on 18 May and returned days later to the home of a client and killed 88-year-old Loreen Severs.

The statement said that Mr Blinston had forced his way into her home and also tried to kill her 91-year-old husband Homer.

“Both had their throats cut,” the statement added. Homer Severs survived the attack but died in December of an unrelated illness.

The prosecutors went on to allege that Mr Blinston killed yet again after he had worked at the home of 82-year-old Sandra George on 4 June.

“After the work was completed and the crew left, Blinston returned to George’s home and killed her. As with the Severs, her throat was slashed inside her home,” the statement said.

Mr Blinston allegedly killed an acquaintance two days later. Vicky Cline was last seen alive with Mr Blinston in downtown Oroville. The former waitress had been living in her car, which was destroyed in an arson fire later that night.

“Blood and DNA evidence on and in Blinston’s car was forensically matched back to Cline," prosecutors said. Her body was found in the Feather River by a fisherman on 21 June. "Damage to her throat was consistent with the other victim murders,” the statement said.

While Butte County has had its issues with meth production, property crimes, car thefts, and about half a dozen murders a year, Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey told the Associated Press that he had not seen anything like Mr Blinston’s crimes during his 44 years on the beat.

Mr Blinston has used methamphetamine in the past and served two terms in state prison for driving a stolen car, having other stolen items and fleeing from the California Highway Patrol, but had been out of jail for several years.

“He wasn’t Public Enemy number one in any sense,” Mr Ramsey told the AP. “Nothing that would lead one to believe that we had a nascent serial killer in our midst.”

A SWAT team using night vision goggles looking to serve an arrest warrant in the arson case located Mr Blinston at an isolated motorhome in a “heavily wooded” area in the early hours of 14 June 2020.

Authorities had information that Mr Blinston was staying at the residence with a 50-year-old man, a relative of his friends. Mr Blinston had set up camp down the hill. Mr Ramsey said Mr Blinston wanted to convince the motorhome resident to grow marijuana on the land.

The district attorney said the man had told authorities that “they drank beer and smoked and shot the breeze and seemed to be getting along fine”.

But on the night of 13 June, Mr Blinston asked if he could stay in the motorhome because he was afraid of bears. The man allowed him to do so.

“He falls asleep. The next thing he knows is Blinston on top of him, slicing his throat with what he believed was a knife because he felt the warm blood start to gush out of his neck,” Mr Ramsey said.

The statement said the SWAT team “heard the muffled screams of a man inside and loud banging on the outside of the motorhome. The banging turned out to be Blinston attempting to get into the motorhome with a hatchet”.

The man was stabbed in the neck and wrist but was able to kick his attacker out of the motorhome and lock the door. Mr Blinston was trying to hack his way back in “when the SWAT team coincidently arrived”.

Mr Ramsey said the luck was “mind-boggling” and “there’s no doubt in the world” that the SWAT team saved the man’s life. Mr Blinston ran into the woods but was captured after a struggle and following the use of a stun gun.

The motorhome resident was given medical attention by the SWAT team’s medic and later taken by helicopter to a hospital.

Mr Blinston was charged with attempted murder and has been in custody in Butte County Jail where he’s been held without bail awaiting court proceedings and investigations concerning the other criminal counts against him.

During his arraignment on Thursday, Mr Blinston didn’t enter a plea but earlier pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder charge relating to the motorhome attack. He’s being held without bail awaiting a court hearing on 19 May.