Hunt for Pat Gregory’s killer ongoing

Investigators release sketch of suspect in homicide of West Tisbury town moderator.

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A new sketch has been released of a suspected killer in the shooting death of West Tisbury Town Moderator Pat Gregory.

Law enforcement officials have released a sketch of a suspect in the shooting death of West Tisbury town moderator Francis “Pat” Gregory. Gregory, a highly respected business owner and former mathematics teacher, was killed in California while hiking with a friend on May 16, 2014. He was 69 years old at the time, a husband, father, and grandfather. News of his death shocked the Vineyard. A memorial service later that month brought out a standing-room-only gathering of mourners in the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Hall.

More than five years later, law enforcement officials say Gregory’s homicide isn’t a cold case, and they’re hopeful releasing the sketch could lead to more clues. A wanted poster with a new sketch and description of a man believed to have killed Gregory is ready for national distribution through the WeTip crime hotline. On the poster, the suspect is described as “a white male adult … approximately 6 feet tall, thin build, olive skin tone, short black hair, a black mustache/beard; wearing dark colored denim pants and a dark or black [T shirt] with unknown design on the front of the shirt.”

Investigators from the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office — Major Crimes, the California Department of Justice’s North State Major Investigation Team, and the Bureau of Land Management are working together as the Iron Canyon Special Homicide Task Force to focus on Gregory’s death. Gregory was hiking with a friend on the Iron Canyon Trail in a federal reserve known as the Sacramento River Bend Outstanding Natural Area when he was killed. They were near the small Northern California town of Manton, which has a population roughly the size of Aquinnah. Gregory and his friend were about 100 yards from the trail head when they were robbed at gunpoint by a lone assailant. Neither Gregory nor his friend are reported to have resisted, yet the assailant fatally shot Gregory, and shot and wounded his friend. Three hours after the robbery, a hiker reportedly came upon the two gunshot victims. 

“This case is real hard not to take extra-personally,” Bureau of Land Management special agent Curtis Hubanks told The Times. “It’s a case that tends to keep you up at night.” 

Hubanks joined the case in 2018, and flew to the Vineyard in August of that year along with Nathan Mendes, a special investigator from the California Department of Justice. Hubanks met with Gregory’s window, Dorothy, and in addition to learning as much as he could, he said the trip was meant to look the Gregory family in the eyes and “let them know we care.”

While he declined to discuss specifics about the case, Hubanks made it plain he and his colleagues are actively pursuing leads, and that investigators thus far have generated a lot of material on the case. “There’s an incredible amount of hard work and investigation in a very large case file,” he said. 

“We still have a surviving witness,” Mendes said. “We have to be very careful what we release.” Mendes said the witness worked with a composite sketch artist for a second time to help generate the image on the poster. 

“He believes it’s a more accurate rendition of the suspect,” Mendes said. He added this was because previously the witness was still stunned and wounded from the incident, and more recently had a better mindset for collaborating with an artist. 

Mendes described a homicide after passive victims have surrendered belongings as “very rare” and “very odd.” In general, he said, armed robbery on that trail and in that area is also rare. He described the vicinity as “a low-crime area.”

In addition to law enforcement officials in California, Hubanks has been working with West Tisbury Police Chief Matt Mincone, whom Hubanks described as “a huge asset.”

“I’ve hoped to provide a local presence for the family in working with Special Agent Hubanks and Special Agent Mendes and the other investigators involved,” Mincone emailed. 

Dorothy Gregory, Gregory’s daughter Shannon Gregory Carbon, and his son Timothy Gregory have declined to comment on the investigation. 

Hubanks said the lead agency on the investigation is the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office, and the point person there is Det. Kyle Lovelady. Hubanks described Lovelady as “an exceptional investigator.”

Lovelady declined to comment on the case. However, another official at the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office previously said the case remains active. 

Crime associated with illicit cannabis farming is common in parts of Northern California, and has frequently made headlines, but Hubanks said it was unlikely Gregory and his friend stumbled into an area of illegal cultivation. 

Hubanks said while he encounters a lot of “illegal grows” in areas he patrols, the Sacramento Bend area Gregory and his friend were hiking in was ill-suited for such activity, he said, as it is “very rocky” and offers little concealment besides sagebrush. The Iron Canyon Trail, in particular, is well trodden. Typically, he said, such activity is concentrated in more mountainous areas, where camouflaging the activity in forests is easier to do. 

Mendes concurred with Hubanks. “It’s very, very unlikely. Tehama County does have a lot of marijuana cultivation,” he said. But he also pointed out that he’s never found any in that area. 

Anyone with information about a person who fits the poster description is encouraged to call WeTip at 1-800-782-7463. Tips are anonymous.

4 COMMENTS

  1. May I ask why has taken 5 years to release a better photo of the shooter? Something is missing here. If someone shot my family member I would be out there looking full time.

  2. Could the community raise some money to up the reward? $1000 doesn’t seem like much of an incentive. I’ve seen posters offering that much for a lost dog.

  3. I remember years ago there was a reward that offered $5000 for information about a turkey with an arrow stuck in it- And they only offer $1000 for information on the killer of such a man?
    I know it’s not much considering the loss, but closure of the case would help a little.

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