Inset left to right: Kenneth McNally Jr. and Samuel Holthaus (San Diego County District Attorney's Office). Background: The remote area near where McNally killed and buried Holthaus in Harbison Canyon, Calif. (Google Maps).
A California man will spend the rest of his life behind bars — and then some — for brutally strangling another man to death.
Earlier this year, Kenneth McNally Jr., 42, was found guilty by a jury of his peers in San Diego County on every charge against him for the 2023 murder of 59-year-old Samuel Holthaus.
All told, the jury convicted the defendant on one count each of murder in the first degree, shooting at an inhabited or occupied structure or vehicle, and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, as well as two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
Late last week, McNally was sentenced to 216 years in prison.
"This was an extraordinarily violent and disturbing case involving a defendant who terrorized multiple victims before committing a cold-blooded murder and attempting to conceal the crime," San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan said. "Because of the courageous witnesses who came forward, and the relentless work of law enforcement and prosecution team…this dangerous defendant is being held fully accountable for his heinous crimes."
The underlying incident occurred on Sept. 3, 2023, on a six-acre property in Harbison Canyon, a small, census-designated place that is located some 25 miles due east of San Diego.
McNally had been staying in a trailer, on and off, owned by acquaintances, the district attorney's office said in a press release. On the day in question, the defendant was "aggressively demanding rides off the property" from other residents, authorities said. Some residents noticed he was trying to conceal a weapon in his jacket.
"McNally confessed that he had killed Holthaus and dragged him down a hill with a noose around his neck," one witness later told law enforcement. "A second witness also revealed McNally made a similar confession to her earlier that day. She also reported seeing McNally driving the victim's truck erratically before parking it near the grave."
The defendant's behavior prompted calls about a suspicious death, and San Diego County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to Harbison Canyon Road at around 3:30 p.m. that same day.
A few hours later, the grim discovery was finally made.
"Holthaus' body was discovered buried in a shallow grave after a witness noticed the top of the victim's head protruding from the ground," the press release goes on. "Investigators found an extension cord wrapped around the victim's neck and observed a gunshot wound to the side of his face."
The victim's own truck was next to the impromptu grave and had blood all over the driver-side door. There were also drag marks leading from the vehicle to another area where detectives found "coagulated blood and a pile of burned trash."
Months later, a third witness came forward to describe how, exactly, the gruesome slaying occurred, authorities said.
"[H]e saw McNally shoot Holthaus. According to the witness, McNally then tied one end of an electrical cord around Holthaus's neck and attached the other end to Holthaus's truck," the press release continues. "McNally drove the truck 329 feet to the location where the body was ultimately found, dragging Holthaus's body by his neck."
On Sept. 6, 2023, deputies found McNally at a motel in El Cajon with a bag of bloody clothing. Most of the DNA was his own, but tests showed one red stain on a pant leg was a match for Holthaus' DNA.
McNally was also found guilty of committing several other violent incidents on the property in the weeks leading up to the killing.
Those incidents included threatening someone with a handgun, firing several rounds into a van being driven by another man, and strangling his roommate "while making nonsensical statements" before someone else happened upon the violence and intervened.