Mono double murder suspect faces federal charges

A Montana man accused in a Nov. 7, 2020, double murder near Bridgeport is facing federal charges.

Cory Spurlock, 35, faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder for hire and conspiracy to distribute marijuana, according to an indictment filed on May 11 in U.S. District Court.

Spurlock was arrested by Mono authorities in the murders of William and Yesenia Larsen, of Burbank, Calif., in connection with a marijuana smuggling operation in March 2021.

Spurlock was scheduled to face a preliminary hearing on state charges in Bridgeport this week, but those were superseded by the federal complaint.

The Larsens’ bodies were discovered by a snowplow driver about 10 miles north of Bridgeport on Nov. 9, 2020.

Arrested in addition to Spurlock, were Montana residents Bradley Kohorst and Orit Oged, according to Mono County authorities. According to the Mono County District Attorney’s Office, charges in all three cases have been dismissed.

According to the federal indictment, Spurlock promised payment in exchange for help from an unnamed co-conspirator for help killing a victim identified as W.L.

“Arrangements depended in part upon communications by cellular telephones on interstate networks, which resulted in the death of W.L. by being shot and stabbed in Bridgeport, Calif., on Nov. 7, 2020,” according to the indictment.

The second federal count indicates that between January and June 2020, Spurlock and others distributed marijuana.

It was on June 21, 2020, that 26-year-old Redding California resident, Jered Stefansky was reported missing to the Redding Police Department.

He was last seen on June 19, 2020, as he left Redding and traveled to the Carson City-Mound House area, when he drove to Mound House to pick up $400,000 from Larsen to purchase marijuana, according to Stefansky’s mother.

She told The Record-Courier that Larsen and her son were involved in the transaction.

On a podcast, she said the June deal involved Stefansky picking up $400,000 from a location in Mound House and bringing it back to Redding where he would purchase marijuana from his sources.

On March 16, 2021, Stefansky’s remains were found in a shallow grave at a remote area near Rye Patch Reservoir in Pershing County.

It took nine months for the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office in Reno to confirm the remains belonged to the missing man.

Investigators from the Carson City and the Lyon County sheriff’s offices jointly investigated Stefansky’s disappearance.