Woman shot dead in luxury Napa resort
The Napa County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed it is investigating a “suspicious death” after a young woman died from a fatal shooting at an upmarket Napa hotel frequented by wealthy wine fans.
Ahmyiah Iman Pinkney, 24, was found dead on the morning of Thursday 4 September at the Bardessono Hotel & Spa in Yountville.
According to the Napa County Sheriff’s Office, police received a 9-1-1 call at about 7.30am, shortly after which deputies from the Sheriff’s department entered the room to find the victim, Sacramento resident Pinkney, killed by a fatal gunshot wound.
Bardessono Hotel & Spa is a favourite with tourists visiting Napa wine country, and promises to deliver “the ultimate Napa Valley experience”. Rooms start from US$1,000 per night, and many come complete with fireplaces, hot tubs and virtual surround sound speakers. Listed in the Michelin Guide, Bardessono is described as “a complete package, quintessentially Napa”, with a contemporary Californian restaurant serving produce from the hotel’s own farm, and a “massive wine collection”, which includes bottles from its own organically cultivated vineyard.
Partner Content
The Napa County Sheriff’s Office said there is no known threat to public safety and has asked anyone with information about Pinkney’s death to contact them.
Napa’s crime files
Pinkney’s death falls one month shy of the 21-year anniversary of the infamous Napa ‘Halloween murders’ when Leslie Ann Mazzara and Adriane Insogna were murdered in their home in Napa Valley on 31 October, 2004. A third roommate, Lauren Meanza, survived the murders after managing to escape the property and hide in the garden. The FBI were called in to help solve the double homicide, with the investigation stretching out for almost a year. However, Eric Copple, then 26 years old, eventually turned himself into Napa police, and confessed to murdering both girls. Copple was convicted of two life sentences with no possibility of parole and is currently incarcerated in the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.
Napa Valley also became a crime scene in March, 2015 when Silicon Valley entrepreneur Emad Tawfilis was chased through a vineyard and shot by his business partner Robert Dahl, in whose winery Tawfilis had invested at least US $800,000. After being shot, Tawfilis managed to call 9-1-1 while running away with Dahl in pursuit, but later died of his injuries. As police closed in to arrest Dahl, he shot himself in the head inside his car. Police arriving on the scene of his suicide found hundreds of rounds of ammunition inside his car. It is thought that Dahl had tried to force Tawfilis to sign a document at gunpoint at Dahl Vineyards due to the discovery of a fully drafted settlement agreement, described by reporters as a “bizarre manifesto” in Dahl’s office, where the two men had been before the chase took place.
California’s most famous wine region was also the victim of a famous heist where US$300,000 worth of rare wine was stolen from Napa restaurant French Laundry. The so-called “classy” crime took place in 2014 and won the nickname due to the lack of damage caused to the restaurant during the theft. Among the stolen haul were rare bottles from Screaming Eagle and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
Related news
Calmére Estate sale signals renewed investor confidence in Napa Valley
