After multiple delays, the trial for Paul Eikelberger accused in the 2016 shooting death of Carson City native Sierra Ceccarelli at his home on Devonshire Lane in south Reno is now being scheduled for April 2027.
Eikelberger was only formally charged with murder by a grand jury in 2022, and even since then there have been additional delays.
Eikelberger is reported to be currently free on a $1 million bond while being supervised by court services.
In 2018, shortly after Eikelberger was initially arrested, the case was referred to the Lyon County District Attorney’s Office for review when it was revealed the suspect’s extended family had a relationship with the extended family of Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks.
At that point, media reports indicate Lyon County was not ready to file charges, so Eikelberger was released before being rearrested in late 2022 after the grand jury’s indictment, and then rereleased after posting bail and pleading not guilty, before going back to Washoe County jail in early 2023.
On the night of Ceccarelli’s death, according to court records, police reported Eikelberger, who was 41 at the time, said he was intoxicated and that there was a woman inside his home who needed “real help” after she had “just shot herself.” An officer is reported to have found a gun on her right thigh with her body “cold to the touch.”
After initially saying he didn’t know her he said the mother of two was a sex worker he called “Diane.” The two were seen on surveillance footage inside a nearby store hours before.
Investigators also say she had tried to call 911 fourteen times before her death but none of the calls were completed, and that Eikelberger’s clothing contained gunshot residue, while the trajectory of the bullet was consistent with a suspect standing in front of the victim and shooting from above, not suicide.
Ceccarelli’s mother has said she received previous pictures and messages from her daughter where the suspect was threatening her with a gun, while Eikelberger’s ex-wife said he had been threatening to their young daughters and to herself.
