Lawyer, 3 CHP officers linked to killing of ‘scrapper’

Attorney Frank Carson is accused of murdering Korey Kauffman in 2012 over the stealing of recyclables. Attorney Frank Carson is accused of murdering Korey Kauffman in 2012 over the stealing of recyclables. Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Lawyer, 3 CHP officers linked to killing of ‘scrapper’ 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

A Modesto attorney, his wife and three California Highway Patrol officers were arrested Friday along with four alleged accomplices in connection with the 2012 killing of a 26-year-old man who was targeted for stealing scrap metal from the attorney and whose body was then dumped in the Stanislaus National Forest, officials said.

Authorities did not describe the alleged roles of the nine co-conspirators. But defense lawyer Frank Carson and CHP Officer Walter Wells are among those accused of murdering Korey Kauffman of Turlock, whose decomposing body was found by hunters in the Mariposa County forest 1½ years later.

Wells, who has since left the department, allegedly participated in the slaying along with Carson’s wife, Georgia Geanette DeFilippo, and three other men, Robert Lee Woody and brothers Baljit and Daljit Atwal, who own the Pop-N-Cork liquor stores in Turlock.

They allegedly conspired with CHP Officers Scott McFarlane and Eduardo Quintanar Jr., as well as Carson’s stepdaughter, Christina DeFilipo, who are accused of being accessories to the crime.

The 326-page arrest affidavit, which reads like a macabre and fantastical television drama, identifies Carson, who ran unsuccessfully for Modesto district attorney last year, as the vengeful ringleader in an elaborate scheme to stop scrap collectors from sneaking onto property he owned in Turlock, taking metal and selling it to junkyards.

Kauffman was allegedly shot and killed after stealing recyclables. His body was then dumped in the forest, triggering an investigation and mass cover-up that unraveled thanks to an anonymous letter to Kauffman’s stepfather, a wiretap and gumshoe detective work, Stanislaus County sheriff’s officials said.

The CHP, which placed McFarlane and Quintanar on leave, said it was cooperating fully with the investigation.

“The allegations themselves are extremely disturbing to a professional law enforcement organization and are a deep blow to the soul of the law enforcement profession itself,” said Joe Farrow, the CHP commissioner, in a prepared statement.

“The entire department and I are appalled at the mere thought that one former and two current employees played any role in this incident,” he said. “What our department has learned of the allegations regarding their involvement has truly hurt the men and women of this organization.”

The arrests were the culmination of the probe into the death of Kauffman, whose body was found in August 2013, said Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputy Royjindar Singh.

Details of exactly what happened — and who did what — were sketchy, but Singh described an investigation with octopus-like tentacles, unearthing “one lead after another, leading to multiple people.”

Kauffman supported his family by “scrapping,” slang for collecting copper and other metal and selling it, according to the affidavit. He was last seen by his best friend, who lived next door to property that Carson owned in Turlock. The defense attorney kept antiques, vehicles and other valuables in outbuildings and storage containers.

The affidavit alleges that Carson was known to confront and threaten people he believed stole from his property. He allegedly investigated cases of thefts on his own without contacting police, the document says, and had a violent temper, at one point screaming at, charging and shoving a Stanislaus County Superior Court employee.

Kauffman disappeared after leaving his friend’s house, purportedly to sneak onto Carson’s property to steal irrigation pipes.

The six people arrested on suspicion of murder were also accused of conspiring to falsely imprison Kauffman, and they face a gun-use enhancement as well. Woody had already been jailed and charged with murder in the case.

Carson is an outspoken critic of Birgit Fladager, the Stanislaus County district attorney. He had previously pushed for contempt charges to be filed against an investigator and the chief prosecutor in the Kauffman case, the Modesto Bee reported.

Kauffman’s stepfather, Kevin Lee Pickett, declined to comment Friday when reached by The Chronicle. His father, Tony Kauffman, told the Modesto Bee, “The whole scrapper life, I didn’t approve of it. You know how fathers are with their sons, we tend to be harder on them. But he chose his own path. He was a good kid with a good heart, and he didn’t deserve what he got.”

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @pfimrite