Sara Matthews Easton

Sara Matthews Easton

Sara Matthews Easton was a 31-year-old mother of three and wife of the Marysville, CA Police Department's Chief, Aaron Easton.

Sometime in the early morning hours of Sunday, August 16, 2015, Sara was shot in the head while in the bedroom of the Yuba City, CA home she shared with her family. Her children were in the bedroom on the other side of the wall. Sara was shot by Aaron's service pistol. He said that she killed herself. She would have turned 32-years-old two days later.

Due to several layers of conflicts of interest—Aaron and Sara were reportedly a part of a swinger's group that included elected officials from counties throughout the area—the case was referred to the California Department of Justice for investigation, led at the time by Kamala Harris, a politician who later became a US Senator and the 49th Vice President of the United States.

After her death, Aaron remarried a Chanell Cheney, a woman some suspect he was having an affair with prior to Sara's death.

In 2017, Aaron Easton resigned as Police Chief amid accusations of a sexual assault against a police cadet. The couple moved out of California.

In May of 2022, Chanell Easton was indicted on 22 counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft for a scheme to embezzle funds from a church at which she was employed from 2013 to 2018.

Requests to the California Department of Justice for comment on the status of Sara's case have gone mostly unanswered.

When an unredacted Death Certificate was finally obtained in April of 2021 (law enforcement had been stonewalling Sara's family's requests), her cause of death was listed as "GUNSHOT WOUND TO THE HEAD PENDING TOXICOLOGY." The toxicology report was completed in November of 2016.

Sara's case remains open.

Date:

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Crime:
Suspected Homicide
Location:

Yuba City, CA

Age:

31

Photos of Sara Matthews Easton

Crime Scene Photos

Note: These photos were taken by the crime scene cleanup crew. They are not official crime scene photos taken by law enforcement.

Case Documents

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Sutter County Sheriff’s Office Offense Report

Printed April 16, 2021
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Sutter County Sheriff’s Office CFS Report

August 16, 2015
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Sutter County Sheriff’s Office Property Report

August 16, 2015
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Yuba City Police Department Death Report

August 16, 2015
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Yuba City Police Department Supplemental Narrative, Baker

August 16, 2015
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Yuba City Police Department Supplemental Report

August 16, 2015
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Sutter County Sheriff’s Office Medical Records Request

August 17, 2015
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Progress and Routing Sheet

August 17, 2015
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Sutter County Sheriff’s Office Offense Report

August 17, 2015
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Sutter County Sheriff’s Office Blood Sample Request

August 18, 2015
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Sutter County Sheriff’s Office Property Receipt – Autopsy Photographs

August 18, 2015
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Sutter County Sheriff’s Office Autopsy Record

August 18, 2015
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Yuba City Police Department Supplemental Narrative, Baker

August 18, 2015
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Yuba City Police Department Supplemental Narrative, Baker

August 19, 2015
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Unredacted Death Certificate

August 19, 2015
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Forensic Toxicology Request

August 21, 2015
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Supplemental Progress and Routing

August 26, 2015
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Toxicology Report

September 29, 2015
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Supplemental Progress and Routing

September 30, 2015
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Autopsy Report

October 12, 2015
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Sutter County Sheriff’s Office Offense Report

October 15, 2015
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Sutter County Sheriff’s Office Application for Release of Information

October 26, 2015
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Supplemental Progress and Routing

November 6, 2015
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Supplemental Progress and Routing

December 24, 2015
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Digital Media Request Form

January 5, 2016
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Forensic Toxicology Request

October 15, 2016
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Property Report and Chain of Possession

October 27, 2016
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Toxicology Report

November 3, 2016
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Supplemental Progress and Routing

November 20, 2016

Misc Documents

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Search Warrant and Affidavit of Probable Cause Against Aaron Easton

September 9, 2016
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Chopra v. Sutter County, Verified Complaint

March 30, 2017
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Chanell Easton Indictment

May 19, 2022