Man charged with murder of homeless man in Kansas arrested in California, sheriff says

A Kansas sheriff says a man who is part of a mother-son duo accused of killing a homeless man from Oklahoma two years ago was arrested last week in California.

Ty Bohlander was arrested Wednesday by the Santa Monica Police Department, booking reports show. Bohlander and his mother, Diana Bohlander, have been charged with first-degree murder in the April 2017 death of a man in southeast Kansas.

The mother-son duo was charged after detectives investigated the death of James McFarland, a 64-year-old homeless man from Tulsa, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. McFarland’s body was found along a rural county road on April 30, 2017.

Investigators said they thought the Bohlanders left Kansas for southern California after the killing. Ty Bohlander is awaiting extradition to Kansas. His mom is not in law enforcement custody and is thought to still be in the Santa Monica area, Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves said in the release.

The sheriff’s office previously said the Bohlanders were believed to be homeless and frequented Tulsa shelters. They were acquaintances of McFarland. Ty Bohlander was 21 at the time of McFarland’s death, and Diana Bohlander was 55.

This story was originally published March 26, 2019 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Man charged with murder of homeless man in Kansas arrested in California, sheriff says."