Aaron Vargas Sentenced To 9 Years In Prison For Killing Darrell McNeill

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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

A 32-year-old Fort Bragg man who shot and killed the man who sexually abused him since childhood was sentenced to nine years in state prison Tuesday.


Aaron Vargas had pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for killing Darrell McNeill last February. Vargas went to Mc Neill's home after a day of binge drinking with a Civil War reproduction revolver. Vargas claims he went to the home only to warn him to stop stalking him but that the gun somehow went off.

Vargas says the molestations began when he was 11 years old and continued through adulthood.

The case has generated widespread support for Vargas in his hometown of Fort Bragg where his family and members of the public have held rallies lobbying for his release on probation rather than prison time.

The District Attorney had asked for a conviction on first degree murder which carries a sentence of 50 years to life, but Vargas agreed to the plea bargain on voluntary manslaughter and special allegation charge of use of a firearm which could be punishable by a maximum of 10 years prison time.

Judge Ronald Brown heard two days of emotional impact statements from Vargas' family including his fiancée and a psychologist and psychiatrist. All testified that Vargas could lead a normal life with counseling for his alcoholism and PTSD symptoms.

"It would be a crime to send my brother to prison for a crime he didn't start but one he stopped," Vargas' sister Mindy Galliani told the court.

The prosecution contended that Vargas was still a dangerous risk to society.

In imposing prison time, Brown said he was convinced that it was premeditated murder and that "the method of killing intended to make the victim suffer." McNeill was shot in the stomach and died slowly as Vargas watched Vargas and told McNeill's wife Liz not to call 911 until he left the house.

Brown also said to grant probation, "would put the Court's stamp of approval on his action, the use of violence which would encourage more violence."

Vargas' family and friends openly wept as the judge pronounced sentence.

As he was led out of the courtroom, Vargas smiled to them and said, "I'll be writing a lot of letters from jail. I guess I'll become a writer."

He could be paroled and out in four years.

Vargas' lawyer told ABC7 he will look into an appeal but does not know if there are grounds to file.

I feel for Vargas. This is a tough one. We do not know what he went through to lead him up to this. Did he have any record prior to this? If he were a Ft. Bragg man, I have to presume he was in the service? Was he sent to Iraq?

There are a lot of questions I have on this case but my gut tells me he just couldn't take it anymore. Childhood sexual abuse stays w/you for the rest of your life. I think when a man molests a boy and that boy grows up..his reactions as an adult CAN be a lot different.

The only thing about this case that bothers me is the fact that he told the man's wife NOT to cal 911 until after he left. Was that because he was intoxicated or not??

So many questions!

On February 8, 2009, Aaron Vargas, 31, drove to the home of Darrell McNeill, 63, entered his trailer and shot him once in the chest. McNeill’s wife Liz, was at home and witnessed the shooting.

Vargas stayed for about 20 minutes and though he never threatened her, he would not allow Liz McNeill to call the police, until he was certain that her husband was dead. Vargas then disassembled the antique muzzle-loaded pistol he had used and left it on the counter.

He then got back in his car and drove to his parents home, where he was soon arrested.

During that rather brief and incredibly tense visit, Aaron told his parent that he had just killed the man who had molested him for several years, beginning at the age of 11.

Twenty years earlier, the McNeill and Vargas families had been neighbors. Michael McNeill and Aaron were friends. According to Aaron, it was during a camping trip with the McNeills when he was 11 years old that Darrell first molested him.

Michael McNeill would later come forward and report that he too, had been molested by his father Darrell.

The molestations and psychological torture continued for many years.

Aaron‘s defense attorney Tom Hudson told the Press Democrat: "There was a continuation of harassing Aaron and molesting Aaron. The older Aaron got, the more sporadic the sexual action became. But on the other hand, the more energetic McNeill was in trying to further contact him."

According to Aaron’s fiance Selena Barnett, Darrell McNeill had been making frequent visits to their house, and repeatedly asking to see, and even babysit the couple’s 9-month-old daughter.


Aaron’s sister Mindy Gallani recently told me: “He was afraid of him coming after his daughter.”

She went on: “I mean he molested his own kids.”

It was a few days before the shooting, that Michael McNeill called Aaron and told him about the years of abuse he suffered at the hands of his own father.

The years of sexual and mental abuse, the stress of keeping that terrible secret, and the continued harassment now with his own daughter as a potential target, all pushed Aaron to the breaking point that Sunday night in February.

His sister said: “I don’t think Aaron had the intent to kill him, I think he went over there to scare him, to tell him to leave my family alone.”

Also, since that night, several other men have come forward and reported that Darrell McNeill had molested them as well.

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Unfortunately, McNeill had apparently hurt many others in the community in addition to Aaron.

At least eight others have come forward since Aaron shot and killed his alleged tormenter, and said that they too had been molested by Darrell McNeill. Just as Aaron, all of them suffered with shame and anguish for years.

However, not all of McNeill’s victims were silent about his abuse.

In 2001, a young man who wishes to remain anonymous to the public, filed a police report detailing the molestation he alleges McNeill committed.

The family of Jamie Specie also went to police and reported that McNeill had molested their son. Depressed, and apparently unable to cope with what had happened to him, Jamie committed suicide in January 2006.

Aaron‘s sister, Mindy Gallani, told me that McNeill’s first wife had also reported

her husband to the police, after discovering that her oldest son had been molested.

Not once, after any of those reports did the Fort Bragg Police Department act on the complaints. There was never an investigation conducted into the allegations against McNeill.

Fort Bragg City Attorney Mike Gogna said of the 2001 complaint filed against McNeill: "nothing ever happened with that report."

In July, the Press Democrat spoke to one of McNeill‘s alleged victims, who said: "In a small town you save face. You keep your mouth shut because it's embarrassing and you don't want anyone to know."

He continued: "Aaron may have made a bad choice, but he did what he thought was right.”

Why would the police simply ignore these reports? Was Darrell McNeill so adept at hiding his deviant behavior that he was viewed as beyond reproach?

Darrell McNeill worked as a realtor, and owned the American Home Store in Fort Bragg, selling appliances and mattresses. He was also a Boy Scout troop leader, and a mentor in the Big Brother Big sister program, both of which placed him in regular contact with many young boys.

Aaron’s attorney Tom Hudson has reported that several young men have given him detailed accounts of the years of abuse that McNeill inflicted upon them. Many of them have said that the Boy scout leader gave them drugs and alcohol before molesting them.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but in this case, it may be safe to say that if the police had acted against McNeill, Aaron Vargas would probably not be sitting in a jail cell today, separated from his family.

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I feel for all those people that were molested and I think that under the circumstances, this case should be appealed and Aaron should be set free. I know this will not happen, but it should.