A Lancaster man pleaded not guilty on Thursday to homicide and other charges stemming from a killing that occurred that last weekend in Santa Ynez, according to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
Rylen Quinn Svane-Morris, 26, entered the pleas before Judge Stephen Foley in Superior Court in Santa Maria, Sonia E. Balleste, chief deputy district attorney, told Noozhawk.
Svane-Morris is accused of murder in the death of Terry Lee Wilson, 72, who lived on Jason Way, just north of Santa Ynez Valley Union High School.
Deputies were dispatched shortly before 4 a.m. Saturday to Wilson’s home, where they found him deceased.
Svane-Morris had fled before they arrived, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, and allegedly stole a blue 2014 Chrysler minivan from a nearby neighborhood a few hours later.
He was taken into custody without incident in Santa Cruz County on Tuesday by sheriff’s deputies acting on a tip.
The criminal complaint filed against Svane-Morris includes one count of homicide, one count of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of dissuading a witness by force or threat, and one count of violating a domestic-violence restraining order.
It also includes special-circumstance allegations that the killing was done during the commission of a burglary; that the crime involved great violence; that the defendant was armed with or used a weapon in the commission of the crime; and that the defendant threatened or dissuaded a witness.
Svane-Morris remained in custody without bail Thursday at the Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail.
In addition to the murder charge, Svane-Morris is accused of felony assault with a deadly weapon — a crowbar — on a woman identified only as Jane Doe in court documents, and of dissuading Jane Doe as a witness by force or threat, according to the criminal complaint.
Balleste told Noozhawk the woman was not seriously injured.
Svane-Morris also faces a misdemeanor charge of violating a domestic-violence restraining order involving Jane Doe that was issued by a Superior Court judge in Los Angeles County, Balleste said.
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Raquel Zick previously told Noozhawk that Wilson’s daughter, who was not named, had been in “a dating relationship” with Svane-Morris, but provided no other details.
The criminal complaint does not reference how Wilson was killed, and Balleste said that detail was pending the results of an autopsy that was being performed on Thursday.
The stolen minivan was recovered by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office when Svane-Morris was arrested, and was going to be released to the owner.
Svane-Wilson was ordered to return to court before Judge Patricia Kelly on Oct. 20 for a preliminary hearing setting.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.