Suspect was 'restrained,' then released
Bullock wasn't unknown to local authorities; in fact, he'd been in custody earlier on the same day that Freed was found dead.
Police explained that, on New Year's Eve, Humboldt County sheriff's deputies responded to reports of a person "acting strangely" in Garberville. They went to the scene and arrested Bullock for public intoxication, taking him to a jail where "he was rejected due to his erratic behavior," Eureka police said in a press release.
Bullock -- who last known address is in Redway, California -- was then moved to a nearby hospital "where he became more agitated and had to be physically restrained by deputies," police added. He was eventually booked into a jail shortly after 4:30 p.m. that day, staying there for over 8 hours before his release at 12:43 a.m. on January 1.
Less than two hours later, police got a call about a suspicious person at St. Bernard Church. Officers found Bullock but, as he wasn't "intoxicated and did not qualify for an emergency psychological hold," didn't detain him, but instead referred him to a shelter, Mills said.
At some point in the hours after that, a guard at Freed's church found a person matching Bullock's description on the premises and told him to leave, police said.
It was at 9 a.m. that authorities were called back to St. Bernard, this time after church staff came across Freed -- who officers and a doctor, who happened to be a parishioner, both determined was already dead. Mills said police later determined there were signs of "forced entry" and the aforementioned struggle….
