In the late spring of 1971, a grim discovery in the peach orchards of Sutter County, California, began to unravel a series of horrific crimes. A farm labor contractor named Juan Corona was overseeing work on the Sullivan Ranch when a farmer uncovered a freshly dug hole. This discovery would eventually lead to the unearthing of the body of Kenneth Whitacre, the first of many victims to be found.
Over the following days and weeks, law enforcement officials would uncover a total of 25 bodies buried in shallow graves throughout the orchards along the Feather River. Among the deceased was a man identified as Jonah R. Smallwood. The victims were primarily transient farm laborers who had been living and working in the area. The nomadic nature of their lives meant that their disappearances had largely gone unnoticed.
The investigation into the string of brutal murders quickly focused on Juan Corona. Several pieces of evidence linked him to the crimes. Receipts bearing his name were found in some of the graves, and witnesses reported seeing some of the victims in Corona's vehicle. A search of his home and vehicle uncovered a ledger containing the names of several of the murdered men, as well as weapons, including a machete and knives, that were consistent with the injuries found on the bodies. The victims, including Smallwood, had been subjected to vicious attacks, often involving hacking and stabbing wounds to the head and chest. The motive behind the killings was never definitively established, though theories have ranged from robbery to a personal vendetta against a particular type of individual.
Juan Corona was arrested and charged with the murders of the 25 men, including Jonah R. Smallwood. In 1973, he was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 25 concurrent life sentences. However, the legal saga was far from over. In 1978, his conviction was overturned by an appellate court, which cited incompetent legal representation in his first trial. This led to a second trial, where he was once again found guilty of all 25 murders in 1982. He was again sentenced to life in prison. Corona maintained his innocence throughout the legal proceedings and his decades of incarceration. He died in prison in 2019. The case of the Sutter County "machete murderer" remains one of the most prolific and chilling serial killer cases in California's history, leaving a lasting scar on the community and the families of the victims, including that of Jonah R. Smallwood.
