Joseph Shelton is a name attached to several people in public records, but the one who draws the most attention is Joseph Perry Shelton, convicted in the 1981 kidnapping and murder of two young college students in Lassen County, California, and released on parole in March 2024 after his first-degree murder conviction was overturned because prosecutors hid a deal with their key witness. Two other men who share the name have appeared in recent news: Joseph Lorentz “Joe” Shelton, a longtime Kanawha County, West Virginia magistrate who died in March 2026, and a 41-year-old Joseph Shelton charged with attempted first-degree murder in Raleigh County, West Virginia the same year.
The 1981 Lassen County Double Murder
On the Madeline Plains in Lassen County in 1981, Joseph Perry Shelton and Benjamin Wai Silva kidnapped Kevin Thorpe, 21, and Laura Craig, 20, two college students on their way home. Thorpe was killed by multiple gunshot wounds from an automatic weapon. Craig was also murdered.1Caselaw Findlaw. Shelton v. Marshall, No. 13-15707
Shelton’s case was transferred to Mendocino County for trial. He was convicted of first-degree murder for Thorpe’s killing, second-degree murder for Craig’s death, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of theft, and weapons offenses that included possession of a machine gun and a silencer. His original sentence was life without the possibility of parole for Thorpe, plus 15 years to life for Craig, to run consecutively. On direct appeal in 1984, the California Court of Appeal struck the special circumstance attached to Thorpe’s murder, and Shelton was resentenced to 25 years to life on that count.1Caselaw Findlaw. Shelton v. Marshall, No. 13-15707
Silva was tried separately and sentenced to death in 1982 for Thorpe’s murder.2Sacramento Bee. Murder Conviction Overturned Decades After Lassen County Killings
The Hidden Deal With Norman Thomas
Both men’s murder convictions ultimately collapsed because of a secret arrangement the prosecution made with its central witness, Norman Thomas. Thomas was implicated in the crimes himself and faced murder charges. Lassen County District Attorney Paul DePasquale agreed to drop those charges in exchange for his testimony, capping his total sentence at roughly 11 years.3U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Silva v. Brown, No. 04-99000
The second half of the deal did more damage. Thomas’s own attorney, Rex Gay, believed his client was “either unable to cooperate in his own defense, or insane” after a severe motorcycle accident that left Thomas in a coma and caused lasting speech and behavioral deficits. Gay had sought a psychiatric evaluation. DePasquale and Gay then agreed that Thomas would not undergo one, on the reasoning that an evaluation would “supply ammunition to the defense.” None of this was shared with defense counsel for Shelton or Silva.3U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Silva v. Brown, No. 04-99000
Jurors knew that Thomas’s murder charges had been dropped. They did not know the state itself doubted his mental capacity and had blocked him from being evaluated. Thomas was the only witness who provided direct evidence of premeditation in Thorpe’s killing.
How the Courts Undid the Convictions
Silva’s case moved first. In 2002, the Ninth Circuit reversed his death sentence for ineffective assistance of counsel at the penalty phase. In 2005, the same court vacated his first-degree murder conviction, holding that suppression of the Thomas deal was a Brady v. Maryland violation. His kidnapping, robbery, and firearms convictions stayed in place.3U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Silva v. Brown, No. 04-99000 Silva returned to Lassen County in 2007 and pleaded no contest to first-degree murder, receiving 25 years to life to run concurrently with his other sentences.2Sacramento Bee. Murder Conviction Overturned Decades After Lassen County Killings
Shelton learned about the deal on his own. Working in a prison law library, he found documents describing the arrangement with Thomas and built his habeas corpus petition around the same prosecutorial misconduct.2Sacramento Bee. Murder Conviction Overturned Decades After Lassen County Killings In August 2015, the Ninth Circuit granted relief on his first-degree murder conviction. Because Thomas was the “only direct evidence” of premeditation and deliberation in Thorpe’s killing, the court found a “reasonable probability” the jury would have reached a different verdict on that count had the impeachment material been disclosed. His convictions for second-degree murder, kidnapping, theft, and weapons offenses were affirmed.1Caselaw Findlaw. Shelton v. Marshall, No. 13-15707
Parole, Two Gubernatorial Reversals, and Release
The 2015 ruling did not open the prison doors. By 2016, Shelton had served 35 years at High Desert State Prison in Susanville. A parole board had already recommended his release in 2014, but Governor Jerry Brown reversed that decision.4KRCR TV. Man Convicted in 1981 Lassen Co. Double Murder Could Be Released Governor Gavin Newsom overturned another parole grant in 2019.5Lassen County Times. Governor Ignored Rios’ December Plea to Block Shelton’s Parole
In September 2023, a parole board granted release a third time. Lassen County District Attorney Susan M. Rios wrote to Newsom on December 20, 2023, asking him to intervene again. Rios argued that Shelton was feigning a dementia diagnosis to secure release and criticized the hearing itself, saying the commissioner had told Shelton at the outset that the hearing was a “safe space.” She noted there was no plan for aftercare or monitored treatment despite the board’s discussion of Shelton’s dementia. Reminding the Governor that the victims had been young students on their way home to college, Rios wrote, “He will be released from his prison, but the children and families of Laura Craig and Kevin Thorpe will never be released from theirs.”5Lassen County Times. Governor Ignored Rios’ December Plea to Block Shelton’s Parole
Newsom did not act. On or about March 14, 2024, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation released Joseph Perry Shelton on parole in Sacramento. An unidentified family member of one of the victims told the Lassen County Times the release was “adding insult to injury,” adding, “The state cares more about criminals and saving money in the prison system. They don’t care about victims, and they certainly don’t care about the families of victims.”6Lassen County Times. Horrific News for Victims’ Families: Shelton Released in Sacramento
Silva remained incarcerated and was tentatively scheduled for a parole hearing in August 2024. He also faced a 10-year federal sentence for manufacturing methamphetamine.6Lassen County Times. Horrific News for Victims’ Families: Shelton Released in Sacramento
Other People Named Joseph Shelton
Joe Shelton, Kanawha County Magistrate
Joseph Lorentz Shelton, known as Joe Shelton, was a West Virginia magistrate who died on March 4, 2026, at age 86. He was among the first magistrates elected in Kanawha County in 1976 under the state’s 1974 Judicial Reform Amendment, which abolished the justice of the peace system and created the unified magistrate court. Kanawha Circuit Judge Thomas McHugh appointed him the county’s first chief magistrate before he took office in 1977. Shelton served that first term through 1980, worked at the Division of Highways and the State Treasurer’s office, and returned to the bench in 2003, serving continuously until his death for more than 22 years across both tenures.7WV Gazette-Mail. Joe Shelton, Kanawha County’s First Chief Magistrate, Dies at Age 86
The 2026 Raleigh County Attempted Murder Case
A different Joseph Shelton, 41, was charged with attempted first-degree murder over a January 18, 2026 shooting in Sprague, in Raleigh County, West Virginia.8WJLS AM. Raleigh County Deputies Extradite Shooting Suspect From Ohio He fled to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was located and taken into custody. Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office Detective M. Dunlap and Deputy N. White extradited him back to West Virginia on March 2, 2026.9WVVA. Raleigh County Deputies Extradite Shooting Suspect to WV From Cleveland He was held at the Southern Regional Jail on $150,000 cash-only bail.10WCHS TV. Man Extradited From Ohio to West Virginia Charged With Attempted Murder The victim’s identity and the circumstances of the shooting were not disclosed in initial reports.
Others With the Same Name
Joseph Kennard Shelton was convicted after a bench trial in the Middle District of North Carolina for the July 18, 2011 armed robbery of a Bank of North Carolina branch in Greensboro and sentenced to 156 months in federal prison; the Fourth Circuit affirmed in 2013.11Justia. United States v. Shelton, No. 12-4923 Joseph P. Shelton is a labor and employment attorney and Regional Managing Partner of Fisher Phillips LLP’s Nashville office.12Fisher Phillips. Joseph P. Shelton Attorney Profile None of these men is connected to the Lassen County case or to the two West Virginia matters.