The farmhouse sits back from Marsh Creek Road down a long private drive, invisible from the road and tucked into the middle of 200 acres of stone fruit orchards in the flat, sunbaked farmland of Contra Costa County. By October, the peaches and apricots are done for the season, the crews have moved through and the property settles into the quiet after the harvest. Emily Courchesne, 37, had helped out with her uncle’s business since she was a teenager, selling at farmers markets across the East Bay. The farm also delivered to Whole Foods and Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and Emily knew the property well, having house-sat there before.
On the morning of Oct. 6, 2017, a young farm employee walked up to the farmhouse and knocked on the front door. No one answered, so she tried the handle. She stepped inside and made her way to the master bedroom, where she found Emily, lying on her back on the bed, bleeding from the head. There were bullet holes in the pillow and headboard. There was also a dog in a crate who had been shot at twice but somehow survived. Nearly nine years later, no one has been arrested for Emily’s death.
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