Suspect identified in 2004 Sonoma Co. beach case

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SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Sonoma County Sheriff Steve Freitas says a suspect is in custody in the killings of a young couple on a Northern California beach more than a decade ago.

He says 38-year-old Shaun Gallon of Forestville was arrested in the killing of his brother, and investigators interrogated him in the 2004 Jenner killings. They said Gallon was taken into custody a few weeks ago for his brother's murder, but did not have an exact date.

Deputies say they found 36-year-old Shamus Gallon fatally wounded inside the home. They set off in pursuit of a van driven by Shaun Gallon. Deputies spotted his vehicle and when a cruiser slowed to make a u-turn, it collided with another cruiser. Neither deputy was injured, but their cars were out of commission and a third eventually located Gallon, and arrested him without incident and recovered a rifel.

Sheriff's officials in Sonoma County held a news conference Friday to discuss the case.

Gallon was said to be well-known to law enforcement. At the news conference, sheriff's officials said they are confident they have the killer in the Jenner case.

The bodies of Lindsay Cutshall, 22, and fiance Jason Allen, 26, were found next to each other on a driftwood-strewn beach near Jenner, California, on Aug. 18, 2004. Both were still zipped into their sleeping bags, and authorities believe they were shot in the head as they slept.

No one had ever been charged in the killings, and no motive has ever been made public. Authorities have said neither victim had been robbed or sexually assaulted.

Cutshall, a native of Fresno, Ohio, and Allen, from Zeeland, Michigan, had been on a weekend trip. They worked at a Christian youth camp in California's Sierra Nevada foothills.