Placer County brothers sentenced in murder of man whose body was dumped in Yuba County

Two brothers from Placer County were sentenced for their roles in the murder of a Lincoln man who was beaten and shot before his body was dumped at the bottom of an embankment two years ago in Yuba County.

A Yuba County jury found on June 14 found Carl Royd Olsen guilty of voluntary manslaughter and using a gun to kill 60-year-old Robert Blass Mendoza, according to the Yuba County District Attorney’s Office.

On May 31, Eric Tait Olsen pleaded no contest to charges of assault with a deadly weapon and being an accessory-after-the-fact in Mendoza’s murder. Prosecutors said the the judge reduced Eric Olsen’s felony assault charge to a misdemeanor charge over objections by the District Attorney’s Office.

Yuba Superior Court Judge Benjamin Wirtschafter sentenced the Olsen brothers on Monday. Prosecutors said Carl Olsen, 60 of Lincoln was sentenced to 15 years in prison for shooting and killing Mendoza on Thanksgiving Day 2021.

Eric Olsen, 63 of Lincoln was sentenced two years in the county jail for hitting Mendoza with a metal billy club before the homicide and helping his brother dump Mendoza’s body off in the Wheatland area near the Nevada-Yuba county line.

On Nov. 26, 2021, a man walking his dog along Spenceville Road — in the Spenceville Wildlife Area near Penn Valley — spotted Mendoza’s body. Authorities originally deemed the death suspicious due to Mendoza’s visible injuries.

Prosecutors said detectives found that Mendoza had severe blunt trauma to his face and an apparent gunshot wound to his head. An autopsy later confirmed Mendoza died from the gunshot wound. Detectives followed leads back to the Olsens’ property in Lincoln.

Homicide investigation launched

A week after Mendoza’s body was found, the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office announced that the Placer County man was a victim of a homicide. Sheriff’s Sgt. Charles May led the homicide investigation.

Yuba and Placer county sheriff’s officials later served a search warrant at Mendoza’s home on Hungry Hollow Road in Lincoln. Yuba sheriff’s detectives followed leads back to the Olsens’ property in Lincoln.

Witnesses told investigators that the Olsen brothers confronted Mendoza about stealing a firearm from them, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Mendoza had been unloading the bed of a truck, and he was standing on the tailgate above the Olsen brothers when the confrontation began.

Prosecutors said Eric Olsen yelled at Mendoza, demanding he tell them where the stolen gun was before hitting Mendoza with a metal billy club twice.

Then, Carl Olsen pulled out a .22 caliber revolver and fired a single gunshot; the bullet hit Mendoza in the head, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Witnesses saw Mendoza fall face-first to the ground from the truck tailgate.

The detectives served a search warrant at the Olsens’ property, where they found multiple guns, including the revolver used to kill Mendoza and blood on Carl Olsen’s truck, prosecutors said. The truck is believed to have been used to dump Mendoza’s body in Yuba County.

The Sheriff’s Office arrested the Olsen brothers in mid-December 2021. Senior Deputy District Attorney Monique McDevitt and Deputy District Attorney Caitlin Smith prosecuted the homicide case.

Both Olsen brothers testified in the trial. Carl Olsen said he believed Mendoza had a gun, and that it was necessary to shoot Mendoza to protect himself and his brother Eric, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Eric Olsen testified that he was surprised his brother shot Mendoza.

Prosecutors said the jury concluded — based on the verdict — that Carl Olsen acted with imperfect self-defense when he shot Mendoza. That means Carl Olsen actually believed he or someone else was in imminent danger of being killed or suffering great bodily injury. The prosecution argued that Carl Olsen’s belief was objectively unreasonable under the circumstances.

Mendoza’s brother and sister spoke in court on Monday before the Olsens were sentenced. They said their family has been devastated by the murder of their brother, according to the District Attorney’s Office. They said their brother’s killing has forever changed the way they feel about and celebrate Thanksgiving, which now reminds them of the senseless and tragic end to their brother’s life.