Community Corner

Man Slept With Girlfriend's Corpse 'Because He Loved Her,' Guy Beaten With Guitar at Concord BART Station, Pot Farm Starts House Fire

Also, huge crowds for Mavericks surf contest; yet another Spare the Air day and North Bay teen gets life in jail for attempted murder.

By Genevieve Bookwalter/Patch

Welcome to your weekend Northern California Patch roundup!

Today’s big news was dominated by the ongoing trial of a Santa Cruz man accused of killing his girlfriend and slept with her corpse for two weeks. From the story on Santa Cruz Patch:

“John Clauer, 63, loved the 30-year-old woman he kept dead in his bed for two and a half weeks because he couldn't face the fact that she was dead, defense attorney Zach Schwarzbach told a Santa Cruz jury in his closing statement Friday.”

Find out what's happening in San Leandrowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Schwarzbach read a letter Clauer wrote Stearns, his companion of several years, telling her he loved her and wanted her to come home and stay sober.”

"How does any of us respond to the death of a loved one?" Schwarzbach asked the eight-woman, four-man jury. "There's no script. There may have been better choices, but it's hard to say what's right and what's wrong in dealing with a loss."

Find out what's happening in San Leandrowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For more top news, check out the headlines below.

Man Beaten With Guitar at Concord BART Station


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