1 guilty of murder in 2021 slaying

Convicted felon killed helper after puppy dies at illegal pot grow site

A convicted felon has been found guilty of murder for fatally shooting his helper at an illegal marijuana grow site in Anza when the helper accidentally killed a puppy.

After two days of deliberations, a Murrieta jury convicted Benjamin Franklin Winkle of killing 37-year-old Michael M. Mendoza in 2021.

Along with murder, jurors found Winkle guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. They acquitted him of witness intimidation.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Davis scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 15 at the Southwest Justice Center.

The defendant is being held without bail at the nearby Byrd Detention Center.

According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, Winkle operated an unlicensed marijuana grow adjacent to his rural home at 61203 Indian Paint Brush Road, near the Cahuilla Indian Reservation. His only help was a hired hand, Mendoza, who tended to the grow site almost daily.

On Oct. 6, 2021, Winkle was planning to take a road trip and retrieved a travel trailer that he intended to hook onto his Chevrolet Silverado pickup. The brief stated the defendant was taking care of his girlfriend’s (Layla Nottingham) puppies from a litter born at her kennel. Nottingham was elsewhere at the time.

The defendant was relying on Mendoza’s assistance to hitch the trailer to the pickup, but the men ran into trouble when one of the Chevy’s tires became stuck, according to the brief.

Mendoza was attempting to free the pickup when a tire rolled over one of the puppies, court papers said.

According to the prosecution, Winkle’s only neighbor, Thomas Sarafolean, walked over to see