Marin County trials for 3 drifters held in S.F., Fairfax killings

This combination of file photos provided by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office show, from left, Sean Michael Angold, Lila Scott Allgood, and Morrison Haze Lampley. The three young transients were accused of robbing and killing two people in Northern California. less This combination of file photos provided by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office show, from left, Sean Michael Angold, Lila Scott Allgood, and Morrison Haze Lampley. The three young transients were accused of ... more Image 1 of / 47 Caption Close Marin County trials for 3 drifters held in S.F., Fairfax killings 1 / 47 Back to Gallery

The three drifters accused of killing a backpacker in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park before gunning down a dog-walking hiker on a scenic trail near Fairfax three days later will stand trial for both slayings in Marin County, authorities said Monday.

All three defendants — Morrison Haze Lampley, 23, Sean Michael Angold, 24, and 18-year-old Lila Scott Alligood — were charged with two counts of capital murder. If convicted, they face either life in prison without parole or the death penalty, if prosecutors decide to seek it and a jury hands it down.

They were booked into Marin County jail in San Rafael late Monday. They are expected to be arraigned Wednesday, according to the Marin County Sheriff’s office.

Arrests in Oregon

Lampley, Angold and Alligood were arrested Wednesday outside a Portland church soup kitchen and jailed in Oregon’s Multnomah County. Investigators said they tracked the suspects through a GPS device in a station wagon stolen from Steve Carter, 67, a well-known tantra teacher and massage therapist whom the threesome allegedly shot on a Marin County fire trail the evening of Oct. 5.

The body of Audrey Carey, a 23-year-old backpacker who was on her first solo trip to the United States, had been found in Golden Gate Park on Oct. 3. Authorities now say the defendants shot, beat and robbed her the night before, on the same weekend that hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the park for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.

When they were arrested, the defendants were allegedly still in possession of Carter’s car, camping equipment belonging to Carey and the gun believed to have been used in both shootings. Police said the gun was stolen from a lockbox inside an unlocked civilian’s vehicle in San Francisco on either Sept. 30 or Oct. 1.

The Marin County charges include robbery, vehicle theft, possession of stolen property and animal cruelty, a reference to the shooting of Carter’s Doberman pinscher. The dog was badly wounded and found on a leash still attached to Carter’s hand.

The defendants are eligible for the death penalty because they were charged with special-circumstance murder — the alleged circumstances in this case being multiple murder, lying in wait and committing murder in the course of a robbery. Lampley faces two additional counts: possession of a stolen gun and being an armed ex-felon.

Receiving cases first

Marin County authorities did not respond Monday to interview requests. Darryl Stallworth, a former Alameda County prosecutor not involved in the case, said the decision to try the threesome in Marin County probably came down to who was working the case first.

“It normally boils down to which agency gets the investigation first and who has the most invested in the case,” Stallworth said, noting that once one prosecutor takes over, the other jurisdiction will typically step aside.

Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the San Francisco district attorney’s office, said his Marin County counterparts “received these cases first.”

California law, he said, “affords them the right to prosecute both murders. We will be monitoring the prosecution and will be cooperating with the Marin County D.A.’s office to bring justice to these victims’ families.”

Kale Williams is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: kwilliams@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfkale