A Napa County judge has paused court proceedings in the 2024 killings of two young women in Napa while attorneys review hundreds of recorded jail phone calls tied to the case.
Judge Elia Ortiz issued the order at the end of a brief hearing Monday for Vallejo resident Jonathan Nicholson Jr., 24, and Santa Rosa resident Jessica Whitten, 21. Both are charged with murder and had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors would begin laying out their evidence.
Instead, lawyers focused on Santa Rosa resident Judith Adolph, who is also charged in the case and is expected to testify for prosecutors. She pleaded no contest to lesser charges in March, and attorneys for Nicholson and Whitten argued that the phone calls could undermine her credibility.
Two other witnesses were present Monday before Ortiz ordered them to return in April. Had the hearing gone forward as planned, prosecutors would have started presenting evidence in the deaths of 19-year-old Aileen Villasenor of Rohnert Park and 17-year-old Sasha Mufich of Napa.
Few new details have emerged since Nicholson, Whitten and Adolph were arrested and charged more than a year ago.
The shooting happened on Riverside Drive, a residential street near the Napa River. According to police, Villasenor and Mufich were shot there April 13, 2024. One died at the scene and the other at a hospital.
Investigators say the three suspects went to the area because Adolph planned to fight one of the victims. During the confrontation, one of the victims stabbed Adolph. Nicholson then put on a mask, chased the victims and opened fire, according to court records. Whitten is accused of driving the car they used to leave.
Neighbors called 911 after finding the victims, and security cameras helped police identify the suspects. Officers arrested them days later.
All three originally pleaded not guilty. In March, Adolph reached a plea agreement and pleaded no contest to two counts of assault with a semiautomatic rifle and one count of being an accessory.
Adolph has not yet been sentenced. She faces up to nine years in prison on the assault counts and up to eight months on the accessory charge.
You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com.