Patterson Cemetery District, Stanislaus County, CA 

Submitted by Gale Stroud and Burta Herger 26 Aug 2007

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Burns Robert D 601110 p1
Charge Manslaughter to Navy Mechanic: Harvel D Patterson & Robert D. Burns; James F. Murtaugh, Alameda Naval Air
Station jet mechanic, will be arraigned in Patterson Judicial Court on two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter.
The charges were filed by the district attorney s office after two weeks of investigation following a violent October 21
head-on crash on Highway 33 south of Patterson in which two persons were killed.  Killed instantly were Harvel D.
Patterson. 21, also a jet mechanic at Alameda NAS and a friend of Murtaugh's, and Robert D. Burns, 39, truck driver
from St. Paul, Minn. The charge against Murtaugh, who was not directly involved in the crash, alleges that the felony
manslaughter occurred as the result of a misdemeanor unlawful act.  A highway patrolman, James F. Young, said that,
Murtaugh and Patterson had been racing down the highway at speeds up to 90 miles per hour when Patterson pulled out
and rammed head-on into Burns truck, killing both drivers.