On Monday, 36 days after police say Boulder Creek resident James David Collier, 66, shot and killed two men—then left their bodies in the back of a truck in the Santa Cruz Mountains—he had his first day in court.
That is, he was scheduled to appear before Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Audra Ibarra, but both the Public Defender’s Office and the Alternate Defender Office disclosed conflicts, so he wasn’t brought over from the jail—which family members of one of the victims said they weren’t too happy about.
More than an hour after the scheduled hearing time, Thompson Sharkey, of the Independent Defenders Office, waived Collier’s appearance and asked for a continuance.
“The IDE is appointed,” ordered Ibarra, putting off the arraignment until May 7 at 1:35pm. “No bail allowed.”
Collier’s name has hovered over this case since he was named by one of the victims, 45-year-old Sean Pfeffer of Boulder Creek, in a distressing Facebook post just hours before his death.
But it wasn’t until Thursday, April 24, that Det. Joseph Espinoza, of the CHP’s Golden Gate station, filed a criminal complaint.
“On or about March 23, 2025, in the County of Santa Clara, State of California, the crime of MURDER, in violation of PENAL CODE SECTION 187(a), a Felony, was committed by JAMES DAVID COLLIER who did unlawfully and with malice aforethought, kill Sean Ray Pfeffer, a human being,” he wrote, adding the same in a second murder count for the other victim, Colter White, 53. “A WARRANT OF ARREST IS REQUESTED.”
Collier faces 25-years-to-life in prison. Sharkey declined to comment on the case.
CHP officers arrested Collier at 6:27am Sunday at his home on Bear Creek Canyon Road in the San Lorenzo Valley.
It was the culmination of a month-long investigation, after the bodies were discovered along State Route 35, AKA Skyline Boulevard, a winding road that traces the boundary line between Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties.
At 2:10pm on March 23—one day before the bodies were found—Pfeffer wrote on his Facebook page, “If today isn’t work out know that it was James Collier, the piece of crap that I invited to this mountain that still hasn’t left it and is working the f*** out of my f****** cousin. I’m rolling down there right now Jimmy, I hope you shoot me.”
It was Pfeffer’s last social media post. His sister in Texas told the newspaper it caused her such alarm she notified authorities.
After a caller reported coming across the bodies, detectives assigned to the CHP’s Golden Gate Division Special Investigations Unit in Vallejo assumed responsibility for the case.
In a March 26 report, the Santa Clara County coroner officially classified the incident as a double homicide.
Pfeffer was killed by a “gunshot wound of the left chest,” while White was killed by “gunshot wounds of torso and left upper and lower extremities,” according to medical examiner records.
Investigators have not said when or where they believe the fatal shootings happened.
‘He was a good man’
—Mink Perez, Colter White’s younger sister
On April 9, a CHP SWAT team joined detectives and crime scene investigators from the Golden Gate Division Multi-Disciplinary Accident Investigation Team, as the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office served a search warrant at a residence in Santa Cruz County they said was associated with Collier.
Evidence obtained in the search led to the criminal complaint.
Detectives, with the assistance of a CHP Special Weapons and Tactics team, arrested Collier without incident and booked him into the Santa Clara County Jail.
“I want to commend our detectives for their incredible dedication and exceptional investigative efforts in bringing a suspect into custody in this tragic case,” CHP Golden Gate Division Chief Don Goodbrand said. “The successful outcome would not have been possible without the outstanding partnership of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. We are grateful for their collaboration and unwavering commitment to justice.”
Santa Clara County Sheriff Robert Jonsen said the case “highlights the strength of our law enforcement partnerships in protecting our community, especially in the rural areas of our county where jurisdictions overlap.”
This is proof Highway Patrol does more than enforce speed limits, said Santa Clara County DA Jeff Rosen.
“My office would not be prosecuting this double murder without the excellent detective work by the CHP,” he said.
During a vigil at the mountain crime scene, Janelle Sanford, who described herself as a friend of White’s, told a KTVU-TV reporter that Pfeffer and White were friends. “It seems like he just got Colter caught up in things that he shouldn’t have been,” she speculated. She said Pfeffer “had problems with people and he wanted Colter to come be his muscle and back him up.” The CHP would not comment on Pfeffer’s fateful Facebook post.
After Monday’s hearing Mink Perez, White’s younger sister, told the Los Gatan her brother was in a positive mood when he left his home on the day he died.
“This is a huge loss,” she told reporters outside the Hall of Justice in San Jose. “He was a good man.”
Deputy District Attorney Barbara Cathcart told the newspaper she’s “greatly concerned” by the double homicide.
“The CHP did a fantastic job investigating,” she said. “We do intend to prosecute to the full extent we can.”
Stacy White, Colter’s sister, said she hopes that a conviction will lead to a sense of justice and closure.
She and Perez said that won’t fill the gaping hole they have in their lives.
“This isn’t another day in the office for us,” Perez said, adding she’s thankful for Pfeffer’s final social media post, even if it’s too painful for her to go back and read it again. “I think that’s where the detectives started.”
Her little brother did a lot for the community, she added—something reflected in a Press Banner editorial published a few years back.
“My brother was a very different human being,” she said. “We just want to promote positivity for my brother and Sean.”
