A Sonoma County jury deliberated less than five hours before convicting a Michigan man of the second-degree stabbing murder of a co-worker at a marijuana grow on state Highway 128 in Knights Valley near Geyserville in 2016.
Arent Bradt, 36, found work on the marijuana grow a month after moving from Michigan to Santa Rosa, Sonoma County prosecutors said.
On Nov. 24, 2016, when Cesar Gonzalez-Rivas, 44, a Venezuela-born co-worker, told Bradt his services were no longer needed, Bradt stabbed Gonzalez-Rivas once in the neck and 17 times in the back, according to prosecutors.
A witness heard the argument between the two men and called 911 when he saw the blood on Gonzalez-Rivas. A Sonoma County sheriff's deputy arrested Bradt who was still on the property.
According to the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office, Bradt said in an interview after the attack that Gonzalez-Rivas "ran around bleeding and, like, he didn't seem like he was ever gonna fall over."
Bradt's prosecution included doubts and testimony regarding his mental competence. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison and one year for use of a knife.
