Hangtown Hank always gets his man, even when he misses him.
For the second time since early September, Sgt. John Kunkle and Hangtown Hank, the Placerville Police Department’s man-trailing bloodhound, were flown to Mendocino County to help in the month-long manhunt for a transient man accused of killing a Fort Bragg city councilman.
But after spending several days leading law enforcement to Aaron Bassler’s hiding spot in the Redwood National Forest, the bloodhound and Kunkle were called off. They had gotten too close.
By finding Bassler, Hank and his handler missed the showdown.
“I missed the shooting by 17 minutes,” said Kunkle. “Not that I needed those mental scars, but that’s what we do.”
After five weeks on the run, Bassler, 35, was shot and killed in a firefight with Sacramento County SWAT members on Saturday.
Bassler was the primary suspect in the Aug. 27 shooting death of Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo, 45.
Melo was slain on a remote, rugged piece of property a few miles east of Fort Bragg while investigating a possible marijuana grow.
Bassler was also accused of killing Mendocino Land Trust manager Matthew Coleman, 45, whose body was found Aug. 11.
Bassler had also been linked by at least one California news station to the unsolved 2004 Jenner double-murder. But Kunkle said authorities now believe there is no connection between Bassler and the deaths of Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen, who were working as church camp counselors in El Dorado County.
Last month Kunkle and Hank responded to a Mendocino County request for aid in the search for Bassler.
The two spent several days leading SWAT teams through the Redwood National Forest, but search efforts proved fruitless.
“We were about three days behind the trail,” he said. “There was nothing real hot, nothing real fresh.”
Although Bassler managed to evade officers for more than one month, he left behind abandoned campsites and reportedly broke into cabins to steal food.
“He was definitely a minimalist,” said Kunkle. “The man would break into a cabin and leave behind a cache of food but only take a can.”
One week ago, on Sept. 28, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department again asked Kunkle and Hank to help with the search.
The two were picked up by a CHP helicopter and flown to Willits and eventually arrived at Fort Bragg.
Their hunt began early Thursday morning, when officers received reports of flashlight activity in the woods.
Hank, one of three bloodhounds aiding in the manhunt, was able to help pinpoint Bassler’s location to a portion of the forest several miles east of Fort Bragg.
But they had gotten close enough to Bassler, who was armed with an assault rifle and handgun.
“We reluctantly left not being able to see this thing come to an end,” said Kunkle. “We were just a few minutes behind the incident.”
Seventeen minutes after Hank and Kunkle left the search, Bassler engaged SWAT team members and was killed.
At long last, Fort Bragg residents were able to breathe a sigh of relief, Kunkle said.
“It was a great relief to the community,” he said. “These people have been afraid.”
But residents weren’t the only ones happy to have the manhunt end.
“It’s a bit unnerving being the point man of a large SWAT movement when you’re not armed as well as the guys behind you,” said Kunkle.
Although the search took place in Mendocino County, Kunkle said support from county residents helped give Hank the training he used to lead officers to Bassler.
“This type of stuff is the result of citizens donating to the Bloodhound Program,” he said.