Suspect in ‘95 murder extradited, booked

Updated Jan. 23 to include photo of Bunty's extradition.

BARSTOW • A man being held in an Idaho jail since last month following his arrest for a Barstow double murder, which occurred almost 18 years ago, was booked at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga Saturday night, according to arrest records.

Christian Bunty, 40, had been living in the unincorporated area of Cocolalla, near Sandpoint, Idaho and near the northern-most tip of the state, when he was sought for his alleged role in the murders of Joseph Riley and Mark Adamson.

Early last month, Barstow Police Detectives Keith Libby and Sergeant Andy Espinoza, Sr. traveled to Idaho and, with assistance of Idaho State Police Region 1 Investigators, located and arrested Bunty.

Bunty was being held in the Bonner County Jail in Idaho on $1 million bail.

On July 2, 1995, Barstow police began investigating the disappearances of Riley and Adamson. Follow-up investigation revealed recently that the two had been murdered as a result of a drug deal and buried in the desert, and that Bunty and 41-year-old James Franklin — who is currently serving a life sentence for a different homicide — were suspects in the murder, police said.

Bunty is charged with two counts of murder and one count of robbery, and of conspiracy, according to court records.

He is scheduled to be arraigned at Barstow Superior Court Tuesday, court records showed.