A Redding man has been convicted in the August 2024 murder of his neighbor on Brent Road in the Wilshire Drive neighborhood west of Bechelli. 36-year-old Robert Parker Milton shot 71-year-old William Dressler and then, as Dressler was pleading for someone to help him, Milton struck him in the head twice with a cinder block, killing him. He later told police that he thought Dressler was affiliated with the Mexican Mafia and posed a threat. His attorney raised doubts about his mental competency and after a psychological assessment the court agreed and sent him for treatment at Napa State Hospital. He returned and entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. During trial Milton’s defense argued that he was driven by psychosis and paranoid delusions and that he thought Dressler was a cyborg or doppelganger who had been sent to kill him and replace him. Wednesday a jury found Milton guilty of charges that include first degree murder. The sentencing phase of the trial begins Thursday.
-Steve Gibson