Former Jamestown Man Could Spend Rest Of Life Behind Bars

Steven Berrigan TCSO Photo

Sonora, CA – A Jamestown man could spend the rest of his life in prison for murder.

Yesterday (Thursday, May 25), Tuolumne County District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke announced that 51-year-old Steve Berrigan was sentenced to 9 years, 4 months, plus 55 years to life in state prison. He was convicted of the first-degree murder of 76-year-old Craig Arthur Hale of Twain Harte, as well as identity theft and driving a stolen vehicle.

Hale was killed on September 6, 2021, the last day he made a phone call with his cell phone. A month later on October 7th, a search warrant was executed at his Purely Storage unit off Tuolumne Road, as earlier reported here. Jenecke detailed that Hale was found with an extension cord wrapped around his neck five times, strangled to death, and then left locked in the storage unit. Berrigan was seen driving Hale’s Dodge Durango and using Hale’s credit card at a local store.

At sentencing, impact statements were made by Hale’s family about the hardworking, honest, and trusting man he was.  Jenecke announced that without the hard work of sheriff’s detectives and the cooperation of the public, Hale’s killer would never have been brought to justice.