PHOTOS: Ford (L) and Shaffer (R) — Lake County Sheriff
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has announced the arrest of two individuals in connection to the murder of 70-year-old Nicky Smith of Lucerne.
Deputies found Smith dead of suspicious injuries at a property on the 4500 block of Scotts Valley Road on Saturday morning, November 23. A separate, related crime scene was also discovered in the Eickoff and Scotts Valley Road area.
CHP officers and Sheriff’s Major Crime Unit detectives responded to the scene and assumed the investigation.
Smith’s vehicle
Detectives discovered that Smith’s truck, a dark green Toyota Tundra pickup (plate # NASTOSR), was also missing and believed to have been stolen.
By 8 o’clock that evening, two individuals — Daniel Wayne Ford (49) of Lakeport and Michael Sean Shaffer (35) of Upper Lake — had been identified as primary suspects and taken into custody.
They remain housed at the Lake County Jail on suspicion of murder, kidnapping, robbery, and carjacking, as well as a parole violation (Ford) and a probation violation (Shaffer). Their bail has been set at $1 million.
By November 27, a third person of interest, 53-year-old Darlene Geneva Anderson, has been contacted and interviewed in connection to the investigation. Smith’s autopsy results had also come back, revealing that he had died as a result of blunt force trauma and gunshot wounds.
His vehicle is still missing.
