Arraignment postponed for Roseville murder suspect

AUBURN — The man accused of killing his father for financial gain last year had his first day in court Friday.Christopher Jon Michael Northam, 25, of Sacramento is accused of shooting his father on May 30, 2011 inside a Roseville sports complex that was to be the world's first indoor skimboarding park.Northam's arraignment was postponed until March 22, as was the arraignment of Averill Elizabeth Easley, 34, of Roseville, who is charged with accessory to murder after the fact.Easley and Northam were engaged at the time of the murder. The two were married sometime after and the marriage has since been annulled, according to Roseville police.Prosecutor Dave Tellman said in court Friday that Easley repeatedly gave false information to police during the investigation with the intent to mislead officers.Easley's defense attorney Robert Catay said the arraignments for both Northam and Easley will likely be postponed several times while all parties involved sort through what police referred to as "mounds of evidence" in the case.Northam sat in the corner of the courtroom Friday afternoon at the Auburn jail wearing an orange jumpsuit while Easley sat just a few feet away, wearing a red jumpsuit.More than 20 relatives, friends and other interested parties sat in the crowded courtroom for the hearing, which lasted about 10 minutes.Catay requested Easley, who remains in custody on $25,000 bail, be released on her own recognizance, citing that it is a "strain on her family" while she is in jail.Catay said he could not specify what kind of burden is being put on her family while Easley, who has a son living in Roseville, is locked up.Judge Colleen Nichols denied the request and upheld her bail amount, stating that it may be reduced at a later date should new evidence justify it.History of Skim XChristopher Dale Northam was the founder of Skim X and created the concept of Extreme Skim.The new sport uses specially designed ramps with water flowing out of the top and specially-designed boards which athletes use to hydroplane and perform tricks.The elder Northam had spent several years developing the concept, recruiting professional athletes to test equipment and traveling around the world seeking investors for the project.Christopher D. Northam had high hopes for the new sport to make it to the X Games and the Olympics. He planned on opening the business around the beginning of summer last year.Instead, the elder Northam was found shot dead with multiple gunshot wounds inside the business on Memorial Day last year.Neighbors of the business, located in the 8200 block of Industrial Avenue, reported hearing a loud argument followed by gun shots shortly after 3 p.m. that day.Roseville police believe Northam's son was "lying in wait" and used a .223-caliber rifle, similar to an AR15, which is the civilian version of the M16 rifle used by today's military, to shoot his father for financial gain.Neither police nor prosecutors have stated how Christopher Jon Michael Northam expected to profit off of his father's death.Not in financial troubleShon Northam, Sacramento attorney and brother to Christopher D. Northam, said the business was not in any kind of financial trouble, as had been previously reported, until after the murder."It was in the steps of completing the building process and then take off," Shon Northam said. "To say that there were financial improprieties or difficulties is inaccurate."Evidence as to what happened to the business after his brother was murdered will come out through the course of the trial, he said.Standing outside the Auburn jail courthouse Friday afternoon talking to reporters, Shon Northam had difficulty talking about his brother, whom he called a "visionary," without tears welling up in his eyes.He indicated that the family still wishes to carry on with the dream that was Skim X."My brother had a vision of Skim X, and at some point it will be realized," Shon Northam said. "Those are the wishes of my brother."Toby Lewis can be reached at tobyl@goldcountrymedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TobyLewis_RsvPT.