In the Bakersfield, California area in the spring of 2018, there were two men who were murdered: Micah Holsonbake, who disappeared in late March and whose arm was found in the river in December, and James Kulstad, who was shot in his mother’s car in early April. A Bakersfield woman, Baylee Despot, disappeared in late April that year.
They all knew each other and ran in the same circles, and there was talk that the cases must be connected somehow. The media, and the mothers of the missing/murdered individuals, called them “the Bakersfield Three.”
Well, there’s been a break in the case: it turns out the Bakersfield Three is actually the Bakersfield Two, as the police have decided Kulstad’s murder isn’t related to the other cases, and it turns out Despot and her boyfriend killed Holsonbake. She and the boyfriend, Matthew Queen, have been charged with murder, torture and conspiracy, and another man, Matthew Vandecasteele, has been charged with kidnapping and conspiracy in that case.
The police are still not sure what happened to Despot, though, whether she’s on the run or whether she herself met with foul play. With that in mind I’ve decided to keep her up on the Charley Project, murder charges or no. Despot’s mom seems to think Queen killed her, which seems likely to me.
What an awful mess. I feel so bad for the mothers of all involved.
Articles:
- One of the Bakersfield 3 is accused of murdering the other in first major break in the case
- Woman missing for two years faces murder charges in Bakersfield 3 case
- ‘Bakersfield 3’ case takes shocking turn with announcement of murder charges
- The Bakersfield 3: How tragedy brought 3 grieving mothers together
- ‘Bakersfield 3’: Matthew Queen and Baylee Despot charged with murder in death of Micah Holsonbake
The Charley Project Blog 
I thought you would want to see this.
What am interesting turn around in connection to the disappearance of two people. It will be interesting to see what comes out a trial
I stumbled upon an interesting as article on how Minneapolis authorities allowed a serial rapist, murder, and a person of interest in the disappearance of another 17 year old girl, to run the streets for almost 39 years.
He was identified with DNA as being involved with these several crimes in 2013, but not charged with 2nd degree murder until 2019.
He was not charged on the rapes, because of existing statue limitations. How, nice of them.
If he did murder her I don’t have an ounce of sympathy. Even if she didn’t participate in his murder she was the girlfriend of someone known to torture people, she chose to run with drug and gun dealers. She is a lowlife criminal and sick minded for sure. The only reason anybody has sympathy for her is because she’s a woman.
I came across on an Chicago & Illinois missing person Twitter site in regards to Stanley Bruce Vodden. He stops in Grenada, Mississippi. Grenada is on Interstate-55.
But, his car is found near Ripley, Tennessee. Not exactly close to Interstate-55. It seems he ventured way off the interstate for some reason. He should have stayed close to the highway.
He should have stopped or stayed around the vicinity of Memphis, Tennessee.
His route home should been I-55 to I-39, north to U.S. Highway 34 and then west to Mendota.
.
That’s kind of low-hanging fruit to say that crap. Maybe she was kind of a lowlife; they tend to gravitate to other lowlifes and Baylee’s boyfriend was definitely a lowlife. But if she was only dim, she might not have caught on what kind of company she was keeping til it was too late. And even if she was on his level, she still has people that care for her and want her found. It’s not their fault she’s their daughter or sister and they love her; you’re supposed to love your daughter or sister even when they do awful things, and we don’t know if Baylee actually did the killings or how willingly she did them if so. Lots of victims aren’t actually nice cleancut people, or even necessarily good or moral people. Just like any other demographic.