On a quiet street in the back of a mobile home park in Santa Maria, a chain link fence wrapped in green netting hides the remnants of an explosion and fire that destroyed three homes and damaged a fourth earlier this year. Garage doors, a burnt-out car, and a stone fireplace remain mostly intact among a pile of ash and debris.
It’s been roughly four months since Claude Adams shot and killed Kurt Bracke and Richard Hanen—two fellow residents at Casa Grande Mobile Estates—prior to returning to his home, which subsequently exploded and burst into flames. The bodies of Adams; his wife, Sherry Adams; and their son, Seth Adams, were found in the rubble.
Since the June 21 incident, the Santa Maria Police Department has learned new details about what led to this event, but nailing down a motive is difficult when the primary suspect is dead, Lt. Russ Mengel said.
“Without being able to talk to the suspect, we will never know for sure,” Mengel said.
He added that without conclusive information, the department is left “trying to bring reason to an unreasonable action.”
Sgt. Alfredo Ruiz said investigators have learned that residents in the park found Adams to be mean, obnoxious, and argumentative over simple issues, such as parking. This culminated with Bracke and Hanen feeling uncomfortable around Adams after playing golf with him, to the point where Adams was uninvited from participating in golf tournaments.
Ruiz said Adams became belligerent following this golf dispute, and that Bracke and Hanen requested park management to evict Adams from the park. Ruiz said investigators believe this possible eviction is the primary motive for the shooting, although the investigation is ongoing.
After shooting Bracke and Hanen near the park’s clubhouse, Adams returned to his home near the back corner of the park. Ruiz said investigators believe Adams shot his son and then his wife after returning home, before lighting the building on fire. Investigators believe Adams then went outside the back of the home and shot himself, Ruiz said.
The situation appears to be a murder-suicide, but investigators don’t have a clear motive for this other than Adams possibly feeling like it was his only option after shooting Bracke and Hanen. Additionally, Ruiz said residents of the park told investigators they often heard loud arguments taking place inside the home.
Without survivors to speak with, the circumstances regarding the fire and explosion remain unclear as well, Santa Maria Fire Marshal Darrell Delgado said in an email. Although it appears that some sort of liquid accelerant was used in the fire.
“The lack of surviving victims or suspect eliminated the benefit that typically results from using our resources to conduct a lengthy investigation,” Delgado said.
Lisa Toke, an attorney representing the park’s owner, confirmed that Adams was being evicted from the park, but she declined to comment on what led to this. She said Adams was served with a 60-day eviction notice in early May—which was set to expire in early July, just two weeks after the shooting and explosion took place.
While the police department is wrapping up its investigation, the park is still dealing with the aftermath of this incident. The ash and debris from the three homes that were completely destroyed still need to be removed, but the process could take time.
Toke said the park is working with the homeowners and the California Department of Housing and Community Development to acquire the titles to the three homes so the park can pay to have the debris removed and new homes brought in.
This process is underway for one home, which had been recently purchased just before the explosion by a woman who lives outside of the area. She’s decided not to move into the park, according to the park manager Mary Johnson.
Toke is waiting for the homeowners of a second destroyed home to work things out with their insurance company before they can transfer the title, she said. The couple who owns this home has since moved into another home in the park.
As for the Adamses’ home, acquiring the home’s title has been a bit more complicated, Toke said. Although police were fairly certain the three bodies that were found inside the Adamses’ home belonged to the family, the Coroner’s Bureau within the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office was unable to provide official identification.
The county Coroner’s Bureau reached out to the California Department of Justice to help identify the bodies, which Mengel said is common as the state has DNA testing labs that local authorities don’t have.
Raquel Zick, public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, said the Coroner’s Bureau received confirmation from the state on Aug. 8 that the three bodies found in the home belong to the Adams family.
Toke—who has been in touch with the Santa Maria Police Department throughout this process—said this information was never communicated to her. But now that this information has been confirmed, Toke can work with the Adamses’ relatives to have the home’s title transferred to the park.
Johnson said a sense of normalcy is returning to the park, but removing the ashes and debris would help the process along. Neighbors are also finding help from the grief support group meetings the county District Attorney’s Office and the county Department of Behavioral Wellness continue to hold each Tuesday evening at the park’s clubhouse.
Johnson said a memorial service the park held following the incident also provided some residents with a sense of resolution. During the service, residents hugged and cried while remembering their neighbors. Ultimately, this tragedy has made residents unified in their efforts to keep an eye on what’s going on in the neighborhood, she said.
“People have pulled closer about watching the neighborhood … you have to be your brothers’ keeper,” Johnson said.
Reach Staff Writer Zac Ezzone at zezzone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 24-31, 2019.
