A Nashville, Tennessee, man pleaded not guilty today to the murder of a 55-year-old Indiana man in a Eureka alley on Sept. 26.
Connor Whited, 22, pleaded not guilty to one felony charge of murder and one special allegation of using a deadly weapon — a club, according to the complaint filed against him — at the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka.
Conflict Counsel Supervising Attorney Meagan O’Connell, who is representing Whited, requested video surveillance referenced in the police report, body camera footage, DNA analysis, photos of the crime scene, the autopsy report, the rap sheet of the victim and another individual named Troy Welsch.
A quick search through court records revealed a man named Troy Welsch has a long rap sheet in the county related to sex offenses and assault.
Whited was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County jail on Saturday in connection to a Sept. 26 assault in a Eureka alley that left Brett Keiling, who recently moved to the area from Indiana, dead.
A news release from the Eureka Police Department stated that the incident wasn’t random and Keiling, 55, had been targeted by Whited.
Whited is being held on $1,015,000 bail. He was previously being held on $1 million bail, to which $15,000 was added at the arraignment hearing on Wednesday. The move was requested by Deputy District Attorney Jessica Acosta, who is prosecuting the case.
Whited appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit on Wednesday afternoon.
The preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 4. An intervention hearing is set for next Wednesday.