Eric Craig Hodges Held to Answer on a Homicide During Pretrial for the Alleged Murder of Delbert Wilder

October 26, 2024 – Nevada City, CA – Officials with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office say 48-year-old Eric Craig Hodges, accused of murdering local resident Delbert Wilder (pictured below), has been held to answer at his preliminary hearing in October. 24 on one count of armed murder. This means the judge ruled that sufficient evidence had been presented by the Nevada County District Attorney’s Office (DA) and the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO) to justify prosecution and open criminal charges against Hodges.

This 12-year-old cold case was brought to life through the great efforts of NCSO Deputy Rory Sonnier, who testified at the preliminary hearing and spearheaded the case while working as a detective in NCSO’s Major Crimes Unit (MCU). family justice.

Delbert Wilder, 63, of Grass Valley, was found dead on his property on November 15, 2011, after requesting a welfare check. He died from a fatal gunshot wound. After no arrests were made for 12 years, Deputy Sonnier and NCSO staff appealed to the community for help in bringing justice to Wilder and his surviving family by releasing a cold case documentary. The video titled The Killer Among Us was published on November 15, 2023, which marked the 12th anniversary.^This It’s the anniversary of Wilder being found murdered. The video shared insights into Wilder’s life and murder and encouraged community members to come forward with information, and that’s exactly what the community did.

With the help of various media outlets that shared the video, tips and phone calls started coming in through the power of social media posts.

“Twelve years is a long time to wait for an arrest, but when we bring a murder case to our prosecutor, it is imperative that we have sufficient evidence and proof of the crime that was committed and who committed it.” Sheriff Shannan Moon said at the time of Hodges’ arrest:. “This case has been on the verge of being solved for some time, thanks to our MCU detectives who are relentless and determined to put an end to the Wilder family. “With the latest advances in DNA technology, new witness statements coming to light as a direct result of our video, and the prosecutor reviewing our new evidence and filing this case, we hope that justice will finally be served.”

Following the conclusion of the preliminary hearing at which Hodges will answer on October 24, NCSO and the prosecutor are pleased that steps towards justice continue in the right direction. Hodges was formally arrested by NCSO’s MCU on January 3, 2024, and charged with Wilder’s murder. He remains behind bars at Wayne Brown Correctional Facility without bail. The date of the hearing has not yet been determined.

The documentary about Wilder, the Killer Among Us, can be watched and shared online: