California tree trimmer guilty in deadly throat-slashings

OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Prosecutors say a tree trimmer in rural Northern California was found guilty in a series of throat-slashing attacks that left three people dead. The Tehama County District Attorney’s office said Wednesday that a jury in Butte County on Tuesday found 37-year-old Ryan Scott Blinston guilty of murder, attempted murder and arson. Blinston, of Oroville, faces a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors say Blinston was working for a tree-trimming service when in 2020 he returned to the clients’ homes in Butte and Tehama Counties, north of Sacramento, after the work was completed and slashed the throats of the residents.