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Disturbing details revealed in Paso Robles killing

December 7, 2015

Nicole Honait LuxorBy KAREN VELIE

An argument over the size of a medical marijuana growing operation took place before the shooting death of 34-year-old Benjamin Derrel Terra on Nov. 14. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Nicole Honair Luxor, 61, in connection with the killing after a roughly 9-hour standoff.

Luxor and Terra had agreed to run a medical marijuana growing operation at a ranch that Luxor owned, a source told CalCoastNews on the agreement that the source not be named. At the Dancing Horse Retreat, Luxor bred and trained horses, hosted events and also conducted psychic readings.

Terra, who grew up in Morro Bay, was known as a mild-mannered environmentalist. He was responsible for growing, harvesting, processing and packaging a limited amount of marijuana at the ranch, the unnamed source told CalCoastNews.

But Luxor discovered that Terra was growing more than the two had agreed on, more than the medical marijuana rules allowed.

Sheriff’s deputies seized about 150 pounds of marijuana buds packaged for sale with a street value of over $200,000 following the killing.

In an argument before the shooting, Terra hit Luxor, unnamed sources said. On Nov. 13, witnesses heard a loud argument coming from Luxor’s home followed by three popping sounds, according to a police report.

The next day, on Nov. 14, Glen Kinford, a caretaker at the ranch, knocked on Luxor’s door and said he was looking for Terra. Luxor led Kinford into her living room where he saw Terra’s body on the floor. A sheet covered his face.

“That’s not Ben, that’s the devil that looks like Ben” Luxor said, according to the police report.

Benjamin Terra

Benjamin Terra

Shortly after 3 p.m., deputies responded to a 911 call from Kinford reporting the body. Luxor, who reportedly appeared to be intoxicated, barricaded herself inside her home.

Deputies arrived at the ranch and were able to enter the home where they found Terra’s body. Luxor then retreated to an upstairs bedroom and fired one shot from a Browning 380, officers said. No one was wounded.

Negotiators attempted to reach Luxor on her phone, but were unable to make contact. Deputies then fired tear gas canisters into the upstairs bedroom. Luxor responded by shooting somewhere between five and seven rounds outside of the home, according to the police report. Again, no one was wounded.

Just before midnight, after an almost nine-hour standoff, Luxor surrendered and deputies took her into custody unharmed.

Deputies booked Luxor into the San Luis Obispo County Jail on one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder. She remains in jail with her bail set at $1 million.

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Making such serious assertions about a murder victim based on am ANONYMOUS source is UNETHICAL! Ben certainly did NOT hit this crazy woman, she was armed, and intoxicated, those are poliece verified facts. He did NOT hit her several days earlier, because he was with friends in Low Osos and Morro Bay up until the day she killed him in cold blood! Claiming Ben was greedy? Who is this coming from, nicole the killer, we dont know, because the source is a secret!? Ben was the most giving, generous person, he loaned money to many, gave heartfelt gifts out of the blue and lived a humble, simple life. He enjoyed music, friendships, the ocean, and hugs. He cared deeply for people, and this was obvious by the packed house at his memorial. The author of this article is spreading gossip about a person who can’t speak up to defend themselves because he is dead. It is not his fault he was shot.Ben was a good man with strong moral convictions. I challenge the author to prove your statements or retract your slander. I want to honor Ben’s memory. We lost a wonderful person, and I speak for hundreds who knew him when I say that.


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I really do believe in the healing aspects of pot and for those suffering with cancer I believe it should be just handed to them in whatever quantities they can sustain to get a little bit of an appetite and maybe some pain relief.


Beyond that the rest of the pot crowd wants to profit from it and get loaded. That’s the entire agenda as far as I’ve seen.


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It’s sad that he lost his life and it’s sad that she lost her life. Googling the yelp reviews from her business, it was easy to see that she had mental issues. Knowing that, one would wonder why he was involving himself in such a situation and attempting to exploit her. I can easily see a defense that involves the victim taking advantage of a mentally incompetent elderly woman. Those who rush to support this guy need to take into consideration that she was elderly and mentally incompetent. It is against the law to take advantage. Elderly Abuse. Sure, I believe he represented himself as a peace, love, and yoga guy, but remember; Everyone has two wolves. Growing 150 pounds of pot with this mentally incompetent woman certainly brought out that other wolf.


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I wouldn’t rush to support this woman, who has been nothing but trouble since she moved here from Southern California. She first ended up with county violations on her unapproved and illegal improvements for her property and spent a couple of years haggling with the County Planning Commission under the last name Bennett. There have been neighbor complaints with traffic and party noise late at night and abuse of right of way across neighbors property for group trail rides. The BOS voted to disallow most of her ambitious plan to turn her ranch into a little Disney land.


Elder abuse? Hardly.


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It’s not about supporting anyone. It’s about looking at the facts realistically. The guy who got shot was illegally growing pot and using her to do that. His greed took over his common sense.


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No, the facts are that this woman was paying Mr. Terra to grow pot on her property (a joint venture, no pun intended). Now, she says that he grew too much and he is no longer here to give us his side of the story.


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What the hell are you talking about? She is very much alive, in jail. Barricading herself and shooting at cops is hardly the action of a poor old incompetent lady. Wolves? Are you high?


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First, don’t be so literal in your understanding of ‘life’. Second, I can’t imagine what your definition of poor mental health is if you don’t consider barricading yourself and shooting at police a measure of incompetence. Like I said, it’s sad he lost his life, but he played a part in that. He wasn’t innocently walking down the road. Her battered face substantiates the witness who reported Terra hitting her. Now, the question of why she was hit is a different story. Perhaps self-defense? Perhaps he was stoned out of his mind? I wouldn’t be throwing my lot in with someone who was suffering from mental issues, and I don’t think people with reasonable judgement would. When a person is engaged in criminal activity, there is a strong chance that something undesirable will happen to them.


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Really? So shooting at police, murdering a man and leaving his body on the floor, is your definition of poor mental health? I call it criminal and unlawful, immoral and unacceptable activity in a civilized society. I call it homicide and attempted homicide–just like the police and district attorney did in charging her.


I


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Shooting at police, murdering a man and leaving his body on the floor does not sound like good mental health to me.


Yes, it certainly would be homicide and attempted homicide as well.


The victim was also engaged in criminal activity, which in all probability was what set off the chain of events that led to his demise.


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Prohibition doesn’t work …unless one’s objective is to create and foster crime …and the cash-cow for authoritarian law enforcement.


Check out Portugal.


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Who gives a crap about Euro-loser Portugal? No wonder they are so screwed up.


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Actually I found Portugal to be quite nice and calm. The locals were very pleasant and respectful. What did you think when you were(n’t) there Mr. Hartz? Do tell.


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This murder is exactly why we as a society do not need to get involved with Schedule 1 drugs in any way.

Despite all the sob stories and anecdotes about how good it makes sick people feel, non-addicts, most of us, know that “medical” marijuana is a scam to get pot legalized.

These are exactly the kind of people who are involved in this effort: thieves, murderers and the like. I fully expect the addicts to respond to this comment with all kinds of justifications for pot, which just shows how far they will go to support the habit, and illustrate the facts coming to light about how the use of this junk damages the brain.

I have seen the effects of this drug on friends and even family and it is not good. It destroys families, initiative and the will to simply get up and do something useful.

Yes, we do have enough trouble with people misusing alcohol so why do we have to add more poison to the mix? We do not.


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Come on up to Oregon where you can just walk right into a store and buy it. There has not been one single problem with it in my city, not one. All the handwringing and claims of chaos have come to…..nothing


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Hopefully that’s enough encouragement to keep you in Oregon!


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I don’t need any reasons to STAY AWAY from your corruption filled little cesspool. Have a nice day.


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You’re right, what we need to do is change the scheduling of marijuana. LoL It’s nice that you accept the reality dictated to you by government classification systems.


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I wondered why her eyes looked like that in the mugshot.

Kidding, kidding! Nobody can take a joke anymore.


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Citizen…a medical MJ recomendation amount depends on what the doctor thinks the person should/could use. I have personally seen a card that allowed 99 plants and 5kg (11lbs) of dried product.


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No you haven’t.


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“That’s not Ben, that’s the devil that looks like Ben” Luxor said, according to the police report.


Interesting….to say the least.


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Sounds to me like she was just growing marijuana.. Don’t you have to have a license to grow medical marijuana–with a limit of 6 plants? And you’re not allowed to sell the excess?


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If you have a card you can have 12 plants. 6 at maturity and 6 in grow cycle. You can’t have all 12 at maturity at once. I don’t use but know a couple growers that told me this is the numbers.


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