Horse trainer discovers pre-dug grave of missing California teen

A Trail of Clues and a Haunting Discovery

Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills on Labor Day weekend in 2003. He noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity. Scribner told CBS News that the rest of his ride, he kept trying to justify why the hole was there. It sort of haunted him, it sounds like.

Scribner had returned with his horse to ride the same trail a week later. He saw a search team gathering at the park and ride nearby. Like everyone in the community, Scribner was aware that local teen Justine Vanderschoot had been missing. As he rode past the area where he had seen the freshly dug hole, he now saw a mattress. Scribner says he didn't suspect anything since the area was used as a dumping ground of sorts.

It would be another week-and-a-half before he would realize he was a key witness in a murder case, when the local paper reported that Justine's remains had been found, and her boyfriend, Danny Bezemer, and his roommate, Brandon Fernandez, had been arrested and charged with her murder.

A Sinister Disappearance

Justine Vanderschoot's parents, Don and Lynnette Vanderschoot, had reported her missing on Sept. 2, 2003, after Lynnette had awoken in the early morning hours to find that Justine wasn't in her bedroom and her truck, normally parked in the driveway, was gone. They reached out to their community for help finding her, but more than two weeks passed with no sign of Justine.

It felt sinister, said retired Placer County Sheriff Ed Bonner. Sheriff's detectives spoke with people within Justine's inner circle, and quickly zeroed in on Bezemer and Fernandez. Bezemer was known to be jealous and possessive, and, according to Justine's friends, he believed she was cheating on him.

A Change in California Law

In 2018, a change in California law reduced the culpability of defendants who didn't actually do the killing and didn't intend for anyone to die. Fernandez petitioned to have his murder conviction thrown out and was resentenced as an accessory after the fact. His defense attorney Steve Defilippis told CBS News that his client is not guilty of Justine's murder and insists Bezemer threatened him into helping him after the fact.

Clearly Brandon was ... in the wrong, Defilippis said. He shouldn't have participated in the cover-up of this, and that's what he did. Both sides would have to present their case in an evidentiary hearing in May 2024. If Fernandez's petition is granted, he would be released on time served — a terrifying thought for the Vanderschoots, who say he is still dangerous.