Tuesday, July 14, 2015 • Jailhouse interview: Altes talks about murder

Publisher’s Note: This story by Dan McDonald originally appeared in the Tuesday, July 14, 2015 edition of the Lassen County Times.

My first encounter with William Leo Altes III in summer 2012 was a terrifying experience.

While my wife, Shelley, and I were sleeping, Altes broke into our home in the middle of the night.

Thankfully, our dog alerted us that something was wrong. She barked and chased the intruder through the darkened house until Altes sought refuge in our utility room, closing the door behind him.

I came behind and locked it, and Shelley held him at gunpoint until deputies arrived.

Altes was out of his mind that night — high on methamphetamine. Shelley, a former police officer, showed considerable restraint by not shooting him.

Our hearts sank when the sheriff called me the night of Dec. 1, 2014, to let me know Altes was the prime suspect in the gruesome murder of a popular Greenville woman, Lauren Lindskog Allen.

Any sense of relief we felt for not shooting Altes two years earlier evaporated instantly. It was replaced with sadness, guilt, remorse and anger.

On June 25, Altes, who initially pleaded not guilty to the murder, changed his plea to guilty. He is expected to receive a sentence of 25 years to life in prison Oct. 2.

The day Altes changed his plea to guilty, I received a hand-written letter from him. I was somewhat shocked.

In four single-spaced pages, Altes wrote that he took full responsibility for killing Lauren and described how sorry he was.

He wrote about his lifelong struggle with methamphetamine addiction     .

And he wrote that he served a few months in jail for breaking into our home and didn’t receive drug treatment after he was released. “Informal probation, no testing, no accountability, nothing.”

But the statement that bothered both Shelley and me was the following paragraph:

“I am not saying if I would of got help none of this (murder) would of happened. The only way I could of known this would not happen is if your wife would of pulled the trigger. I wish she would have. But I don’t want to lay that guilt trip on her.”

Altes ended the letter by saying he was willing to meet with me in person.

For numerous reasons, I decided to go forward with the meeting.

Two days after he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, Altes and I sat on opposite sides of the bullet-proof glass in the jail’s visiting room.

I listened to him for more than an hour, hoping to find out what could possess him to murder a human being he claimed to have adored.

Following are excerpts from our June 27 conversation.

Editor’s note: Parts of the conversation have been printed in a different order than that in which they occurred, and names of friends and family members have been withheld by Feather Publishing.

My questions and comments are printed in boldface. The rest of the text is Altes’ words.

Some of the content might not be suitable for all readers.

I appreciate you being willing to meet with me today.
Well, I’m sure people have a lot of questions.

Is there anything that you want to talk about specifically?
I really don’t want to try to make excuses. The reason why I didn’t take (the murder charge) to trial is … You know, I wanted to say, “Look, I didn’t go there to kill that lady.” That wasn’t what I wanted to do. I had no thought of that. … I went there because I (expletive)ed up. I was out all night. And I missed work. And I said, “(Expletive), I gotta do somethin’ to fix …” So I had this side job. I went there to finish the side job.

I don’t know what happened… I don’t know why it happened.

You don’t remember it?
No. I remember right up to the point. We went into the garage to look for paint. … For the shower surround I was doing there.

I said, “Hey, are you available?” She said, “No, I’m busy right now.”

I said, “OK, I’ll come back.” Because I needed the paint. I didn’t want to glue that shower surround and then paint on top of it. I was just being lazy. I wanted to paint the sheetrock and then glue the surround to it, and then be done.

I left and I came back.

I remember going there. I remember talking to her. We went into her house. She showed me where she pulled all the baseboard trim out of her house. I was going to do baseboard trim in her house.

We went out to the garage. We were looking at paint. I’m looking at the primer. It’s called “KILZ.” And then she’s got some lime greens and some stuff like that. And then the next thing I look over and she’s dead.

And there’s blood … Everywhere.

I’ve seen the crime scene photos. It looked like … Did you try to sweep up the blood?
I don’t remember at all. I know I put a blanket over the top of her.

Did you smoke (methamphetamine) right before you went there?
No. No, I ran out of gas up on the hill. You know where Paxton’s at?

Yeah.
There’s a road on the other side that goes up … I ran out of gas right there. I got high up there all night.

I wasn’t strung out. I had been clean for like four or five months.

You were clean four or five months before that day?
I was clean and sober from everything … No alcohol, no nothin’.

Huh …
I believe in my heart that I got some bad drugs … That’s what I believe. I mean I smoked this dope and I puked instantly after it. … But I still did it. I still finished it.

The guy gave me his pipe. And I left and I finished the pipe. … And that’s insanity. …

I ran out of gas. I hitchhiked. I tried to go find a gas can. I couldn’t. I went to (name withheld by Feather Publishing)’s house. He gave me a ride. I got some gas there. I was driving back to Greenville. I ran out of gas again. And I went to (name withheld)’s house. … I remember all of this.

I remember the feeling after … And I knew I was guilty.

I was gonna go kill myself. That’s what I wanted to do. But I didn’t have enough courage, or the whatever … I couldn’t do it.

So, you remembered putting the blanket on her. Why did you go to Sacramento Valley? Why did you take (her) car and go?
I was just driving. I was just driving … I was about to run out of gas. And I got gas twice down there.

So, why did you change your plea to guilty?
You know, I’ve never denied the fact that I’m responsible. … I wanted people to know I didn’t go there to kill her. And I don’t know how it happened. I don’t know why it happened.

I wanted to mitigate that. … I wanted to … I guess so people could feel … that I wasn’t a monster. (Altes pauses; crying).

After reading that autopsy report … I didn’t want to go through … I am a monster … That was brutal.

So, you didn’t want to put your family and Lauren’s family through a trial?
I didn’t want to look at the pictures in the autopsy report. You know what I mean? I didn’t want to see that … I’m sorry.

Do you feel like you had good representation as far as your attorney and everything?
(Robert) Zernich? Yeah. … He really looked into the angle of the (insanity defense).

Honestly, he had it down to where I believe I could have got it down to second-degree murder … and got 15 to life.

And I have a problem … The legal system here … We don’t have a law library in this (jail) facility. And, by law, we are supposed to.

And what they’ve done to try to mitigate that is we fill out a request form for what we are looking into. And it gets faxed somewhere. And it sounds wonderful.

My problem with that is, you know I’m looking into the law because I’m not a lawyer, but I was looking into the law — and I wanted to know: What’s the difference between first and second degree? … And it’s malice and forethought. And what’s the definition of malice and forethought?

And I was looking into that.

Well, I put in for the wording of that. Two weeks later, (District Attorney David) Hollister amends my complaint to hit me with the three strikes law.

It’s like he knew what I was doing, so he … You know, I don’t feel it’s fair. … But, then again, that’s not going to change what happened to Lauren. You know what I mean?

I don’t know if you noticed, I seen you were there at court, and they wanted me to admit that it was premeditated … And I said no. And then we talked and Zernich said, “Look, you know, if it was two seconds of premeditation, you had to have a thought of you were going to kill her.”

Well … You’ve seen the autopsy. There had to have been the thought of killing her. There wasn’t just an accident. I mean there was … It looks like there was quite a bit of … (doesn’t finish his sentence)

But you had no ill will toward Lauren?
No. I don’t know if you’ve ever been there. That camp is beautiful. They get $2,700 for a two-week session at that camp.

She was letting me send two kids, in trade for a thousand-dollar job.

Lauren’s a beautiful person.

My lawyer goes, ‘Hey, did you guys like have an affair? Or does she owe you money?’ They were trying to find some kind of … And I guess if we had an affair that went bad, there’s some kind of defense there.

But, I said ‘no.’ … I mean ‘no!’

What do you say? You know? I’ll tell you one thing I do want to say is the most heartwarming thing I saw is (Lauren’s daughter) shook my dad’s hand when she left (the courtroom). (Altes is weeping)

She shook my dad’s hand. You know, just touched.

Wow.
Yeah. …

I’ve spoken to your father a few times. I know he’s …
My dad’s a hell of a man. You know he taught me right from wrong. And he … he knows this isn’t me. …

I’ve lived through some of the most violent prisons in the state. And I’m not a violent person … You know? Look at my CDC record. That’s not who and what I am.

The night that you came into my house. I could tell, after talking to you, that you were messed up.
You know, I honestly thought that (Altes’ girlfriend’s name withheld) rented a cabin so that we could figure something out. …

I’m sorry what I did to you. I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you guys. …

The thing that saved us all … The whole thing that saved that whole situation, is your dog was barkin’. You gotta love that dog. There was a few months there where I thanked God for that dog every day.

I bent down to pet the dog and … I have a little white poodle … And I bent down to pet that dog and tell, “Sadie, shut up you are going to wake up the kids.”

And your dog’s not a little poodle. It’s a bigger dog.

And about that time, you came out of that room and said “What the … ?”

I’m telling you, Dan. If that (dog barking) wouldn’t have happened … I would have probably put you underneath the kitchen sink or something. … Because I think you are in my house with my family. … Do you understand what I’m saying? I would have been protecting my family in my head.

Wow.
Yeah. And your wife would have shot me and Lauren would be alive. …

I thought I was gonna get (shot) right there when I was sittin’ there talking. I mean, man, it’s a home invasion.

You wrote me a letter.
Yes, I did.

Did you write a letter to anyone else? To the victim’s family?
They don’t want to hear from me. I wouldn’t want to hear from me.

I was going to stand up in court and say, “I’m sorry.” But saying you’re sorry … How do you say you’re sorry?

I’m sorry? For somebody’s life? I mean, I destroyed a community! You know what I’m saying? Lauren … How do you say, I mean (name withheld) had to come and find his … like that. And (name withheld) had to … I mean (name withheld) and her mom were close. I mean Lauren’s life revolved around (name withheld). … What do you say?

Yeah, I want them to know that … I live with it every day. (Altes pauses, weeping)

And then there’s … I destroyed my family.

I couldn’t even look at those people in court. I did make eye contact with (names withheld) once. I could just see the pain in their eyes.

So, my reason for contacting you is I saw a situation … I saw something that wasn’t right, with this lock ’em up, get a conviction and worry about it the next time . … Well, the next time could be really bad.

I would have done more time if I would have got the Prop. 36 off our (2012) incident.

Editor’s note: Proposition 36 is a sentencing approach for nonviolent drug offenders. It is only available to those who are charged with a drug offense. If a person is charged with a drug offense and a nondrug offense they are ineligible for Prop 36. Altes was charged with trespassing as well as being under the influence for the 2012 crime.

I asked for help, Dan. I would have went to a drug program. I would have done whatever …

I think I wound up doing 90 days on that whole thing. … On informal probation. No testing. No accountability. I wasn’t even told I had to go to meetings.

I was looped inside your house. It’s hard for me say that there needed to be something different, but I’m telling you there needed to be something different.

And I can’t say that if there would have, none of this would have happened. But I was at the point where I needed help and I asked for it.

I can’t guarantee that I would have stopped getting high. I can’t say that. I don’t want anybody to carry any guilt about what happened to Lauren. But I’m saying there is a situation where something ain’t working and we need to do something different. … Because if it stops just one incident from happening it’s worth it. … It’s worth the money.

I’m not trying to make excuses for what people do. Addiction … Addiction is a, it’s a problem. And it’s not a moral choice.

I had every reason in the world not to get high. I mean every reason. And I didn’t want to get high. I just, I had things going on inside of me that I didn’t know how to deal with.

And that’s not an excuse either. … But I went looking for help. I went to Mental Health. I told them, “Hey, look, I can’t stay sober.”

And I met with a guy a couple times (name withheld).

But when I’m on that thinking, on the right track, I’m doing great. I’m going to NA (Narcotics Anonymous) and AA (Alcoholics Anonymous). I’m doing the things that are available for me to do.

And I found out what it was … I had shame and guilt for something I did when I was 13 or 14 years old. … You know what I mean? And I stuffed it so far away and I didn’t realize it. … I mean I was a male prostitute. I let old men touch me for money. And that’s wrong. It messed with my head.

And I’m not trying to say any of this as an excuse. It doesn’t take away the fact that Lauren’s dead. … That (name withheld) doesn’t have a mother no more, that (name withheld) doesn’t have a partner. …

Meth is a problem … And then they turned meth into a misdemeanor. … You know what that is going to do to this community?

I don’t know the answers.
What I’ve learned is that alcohol and drugs weren’t the problem, they were my solution. … You know what I mean? … And I didn’t even know what the problems were. …

Let me back up a second. When you went to Mental Health, when you went to (name withheld) … What did he say to you?
This was a year ago.

This was after the incident at my house?
Yes.

After you got out on that?
Yes. We met like three different times. And we talked. And, like I said, when I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, everything’s good.

The problem isn’t right there on the surface. … So that kind of fizzled out and we quit meeting, and then I relapsed. And I went back to Mental Health and Mental Health told me I needed to go to A&D (Alcohol and Other Drug Services) because it wasn’t a mental health problem.

I told them, “Look, I can’t stay off drugs. I gotta be crazy.” And (name withheld) said, “There’s no documentation of that.”

So, did you go to A&D then?

No. I didn’t. … I was going to AA and NA. And those kind of programs … It works when you are in the middle of it.

I started living life. I got (family responsibilities). I’m working from sunup to sundown … and those things (AA and NA) start getting pushed back on the back burner.

And my sponsor told me, he said, “Look, everything you put in front of your recovery are the first things you are going to lose.” … And he’s right.

Do you think the drug problem in Plumas County is pretty bad?
Well, I know what I see here (at the jail). I see the people coming through here … over and over and over.

I see there’s guys getting out of here that have nowhere to go. They’ve burned a few bridges. The only place they’ve got to go is the drug scene. Because they’ll accept you back with open arms.

The kid I was talking about (jail inmate’s name withheld by Feather Publishing). He’s a 20-year-old kid, real personable, addicted family, dad’s a dope fiend, mom’s off runnin’ around, being raised by his grandparents. … He’s here (in jail), he’s going to the groups … And, yeah, right now he wants to change. He wants something different. That’s not to say that when he gets out and around … starts runnin’ around, I don’t know.

Hell, he’s gonna want … and they told him no … He’s gonna wind up doing three more months and go right back to where he came from. … With a jaded attitude … Like nobody cares about him. …

Now Mental Health has been doing a real big thing by taking some guys and putting them in a motel and helping them try to get a place. And they’ve had some successes there. But, before, all they did is kick you out at midnight or 8 in the morning and say, “OK, see you next time.” …

Yeah, I’m the exception to the rule. … And look what happened with me … And when I say that, I mean not every tweaker is going to go out and kill somebody. … But it has happened. … And (saving) one more life is worth whatever it takes … right?

I do know that this jail offers more than anything I’ve ever seen.

And I jumped into it because I was scared and I wanted to know what was going on … Why?

And it’s opened my eyes. I’ve learned a few things. I became willing to look at myself also. … Because I had no other options. There’s nothing left for me. … I’ve hit rock bottom.

I do know there’s a few guys in here that are taking advantage of what’s here. But there’s got to be something after that. You can’t just be thrown right back in the middle of a situation with no hope, and expect to (flourish).

When did you make the decision that you were going to plead guilty?
After I was investigating the law and looking into the difference between first- and second-degree murder.

And the process that I can do that, I have to submit a form requesting legal supplies.

How long ago was that?
I’ve got the paperwork. It was back in February. The end of February. The beginning of March, Hollister amended the complaint and put in there that this was my third strike. So even if I got it from first to second degree, I would still get 25 to life.

And if I went through trial and all that happened, I could probably still appeal. Because they are appealing those strikes all the time.

I got a strike when I was 16 years old, a burglary. My second strike is assault with a deadly weapon and nobody got hurt. …

But I’m looking at the here and now. And the here and now is I did not want to go to trial on it.

Did your attorney try to convince you otherwise?
No. … He told me, “Look, you need to make your decision. I can’t tell you what to do here.”

He had one psychologist come talk to me from Redding, ah, Red Bluff. He had another forensic psychologist come talk to me … trying to build a case on there was an episode … and trying to mitigate the malice and forethought … the premeditation.

And (the forensic psychologist) said, “I talked to him for a period of time. I’ve gone over his history.” My thing is … it’s a drug-induced episode. She asked me a bunch of questions. And I don’t have the personality of someone who would do something like that for fun. Or just because … You understand what I’m saying?

Do you feel like you made the right decision?
Right now, I do. Because I didn’t want them pictures all over the big-screen TVs (in the courtroom).

When I was looking at that paint can, and I seen her laying there in blood, I knew I was guilty.

Even though you don’t remember it?
I knew. I mean I had blood on my hands. And I knew. And I grabbed that shotgun and I left. (Altes pauses, crying)

So, yeah, I … and the first thing I said when I got here (in jail) was I wanted the death penalty. That’s what I told the detective. I knew I didn’t want to give him any information. I wanted to talk to a lawyer.

And you know what I did say (to the detective)? I said there are some bad drugs going around.

They didn’t test me. And I know why they didn’t test me. They didn’t want to build a defense for me. And I understand that. But look, if somebody’s telling you that there’s bad drugs going around, why don’t you find out what it is?

You wanted to be put to death for this?
Yeah. I told my lawyer, I told Zernich. … I don’t want to do life in prison. I know what that life is. I’ve been there before.

I couldn’t kill myself. Was the death penalty an easy escape? Yeah. … I’ve made some really bad choices. …

I honestly believe I didn’t make a choice to kill Lauren. That wasn’t a choice. I believe that. I know that in my heart. I know that. I didn’t make that choice. … But it doesn’t take away from the fact that I did it. … Does that make sense?