Man accused of killing his girlfriend near Senator Wash appears in court

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA) - The man accused of killing his girlfriend near Senator Wash in Imperial County appeared in court Monday.

56-year-old James Hill, who was extradited to Imperial County last week, was in court to be arraigned in the murder of 34-year-old September Lee Weisinger.

During the court appearance, it was determined that Weisinger's cause of death was smoke inhalation, with the judge saying she was still alive when she burned to death.

The Imperial County District Attorney's Office wanted no bail for Hill due to him being a flight risk, but Hill's attorney said he's not a flight risk nor a threat to the community because he doesn't have any priors and he's a military Veteran.

However, it was revealed that there was some type of domestic violence between Hill and Weisinger.

After the court hearing, we spoke with one of Hill's friends, Melanie Morris, who came in support.

"He is a good person. He always helping people no one had a bad word to say about him ever...that is all I ever seen him do is help people. People call him when they need to help pull out of the sand when they are stuck he is always helping people all around," Morris expressed.

She says the suspect cared for the victim and wants to encourage anyone who may have information about this case to come forward.

"Anyone out there that believes in James like we do, step up, tell somebody...let them know," said Morris.

Hill has a bond of $2 million.