Covelo man sentenced for 2021 fatal shooting

A Mendocino County man was sentenced to 70 years to life in prison Thursday following his conviction in a 2021 shooting outside a Covelo bar.

Dino Blackbear Lincoln, 36, was sentenced in Mendocino County Superior Court for the Sept. 15, 2021, death of Kenneth Fraiser Whipple, who was killed outside The Buckhorn Bar at Greely Street and Highway 162.

A jury convicted Lincoln on May 22 of second-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon and reckless driving. He was sentenced Thursday by Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder.

In a victim impact statement submitted to the court, the mother of Fraiser Whipple’s 4-year-old son admonished Lincoln.

“Dino Blackbear Lincoln is the monster under my son’s bed, he is the thief that has stolen so much irreplaceable love, knowledge and experience from my son,” Shadaysha Williams wrote in her statement.

“My son is a 4-year-old boy who has already expressed his anger and frustration towards not having a father. He has cried and asked for his father every day since.”

Lincoln’s attorney, Joseph Stogner, said he will file an appeal for the conviction and sentence.

“Everything is sort of up for review and on the table,” he said Thursday afternoon.

According to Mendocino County court documents, Mendocino County sheriff’s deputies found Fraiser Whipple on the southeast corner of Greely and Highway 162 late Sept. 15, 2021.

He had a gunshot wound on the side of his neck and was pronounced dead while being transported to a hospital.

An investigation determined Lincoln and his cousin, Corina Carrio, were at the bar that night and the shooting occurred as they left.

Lincoln fired a 9 mm handgun from the northwest corner of the intersection, and the pair drove away before crashing into an unspecified location and separating.

Carrio buried the gun in a friend’s backyard and it was later recovered, investigators said.

In a previous interview, Stogner said Lincoln and Fraiser Whipple were on opposite corners of each other and separated by a parked pickup truck, which would’ve made it difficult for his client to do the shooting.

Lincoln was spotted Sept. 17 in Fort Bragg and led authorities on a chase beginning near Oak and Main streets.

He ignored stop signs and collided with another driver at Chestnut and Harrison streets.

Lincoln then ran away after crashing into a ditch. The other driver was treated at a hospital for injuries.

Lincoln was arrested the next day on Hansen Road in Fort Bragg.

On Sept. 20, Carrio was arrested after surrendering to authorities in Willits.

She was convicted in November on one felony count of being an accessory.