Willows man killed by gunshot blast

Homicide detectives are probing the shooting death of a Willows man whose body was found lying on the side of the road west of Willows on Monday.

A surveyor with Geophysical Gas Company found 28-year-old Guadalupe Martinez Licea near the gravel pit ponds near the intersection of County Road 48 and P, just after 3 p.m. Licea, shot in the head, was found face down and covered with debris.

Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones, who was first on the scene, said it appeared that Licea had been lying there at least 24 hours.

“We believe that Mr.Licea was killed at that location,” Sheriff Jones said.

Licea had a northeast Willows address, but had recently been staying at a residence north of Durham.

He’s had some previous trouble with the law in Glenn County, according to Glenn County Superior Court Records, including

driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, giving false identification to a peace office and driving without a license and insurance.

He was last arrested in 2004 for battery on a wife or girlfriend, but was not prosecuted. He also has a collections action pending.

Gang involvement is not suspected, Jones said.

After Licea’s body was discovered Monday afternoon, Road 48 was shut down to all motorists for several hours while the investigation was being conducted.

Criminologists from the State Department of Justice assisted in processing the scene. Pathologist Thomas Resk also responded to the scene along with detectives from the Butte County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Jones said Butte County was investigating Licea as a possible missing person over the weekend after Licea’s blood-soaked car was found abandoned in Butte County with its driver’s side window broken.

On Sunday, Glenn County deputy Josh Brazzi contacted members of Licia’s family in Willows, which includes twin brothers, who claimed to have spoken with Licia on Saturday night.

The next evening, deputies had to return to Licia’s family to notify them of their brother’s death.

An autopsy was conducted Wednesday, the sheriff said, and the body was made available to the family for interment. It is believed Licea’s parents live in Mexico. It is unknown if he leaves behind any children.

Anyone with information regarding Mr. Licea’s death is urged to contact the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office at 934-6431 or the

secret witness hotline at 934-6627.

Licea’s is the third confirmed homicide death in Glenn County in recent times. A Red Bluff woman, whose nude body was

found floating face down in a canal west of Willows earlier this year, was reported to have been brutally stabbed to death in Butte County and transported to Glenn County. Her accused killer is set to stand trial in January. The execution style shooting death of a Sacramento man, whose bound body was found lying in an orchard in eastern Butte County a year ago, remains unsolved.

A fourth death, that of a Chico man, whose battered body was found outside a residence at the Grindstone Rancheria earlier

this month, is being investigated as a homicide, but is unconfirmed at this time.