Victim in March Julian Shooting Says Confrontation 'Not About Drugs'

Originally posted at 6 a.m. June 6, 2013

The man who was found with a gun shot wound to the neck by a passer-by near the Banner Grade section of state Route 78 on March 28 is speaking out, setting the record straight that the incident was not drug-related.

"I am not a drug addict," Joshua Fair emphasized. 

According to the 34-year-old who hails from Illinois, the morning of March 28 started out like any other day. He woke up, fed his dog and met up with Jeffery Roberson, his business partner in gold mining, to start the day.

"We had planned to go to Wynola together that day to sell a wood burner " Fair said, noting he had only known Roberson for just under three weeks. "I had my back to him [in front of his trailer] and was looking at some lilac and he was on me quick."

Fair said Roberson shot him through the back left shoulder and the bullet traveled through his neck and lodged just below his right jawline. The miner said he first thought it might've been an accident.

"I started running and looked back at Jeff and he didn't act like anything happened... he was kicking around dirt like it was no big deal," Fair said. "That's when I knew he was trying to murder me."

The 34-year-old said he ran away from Jeff's trailer at the 35600 block of state Route 78 and onto the side of the road near Banner Grade. According to Fair, Roberson then drove Fair's truck off the road and threw away the keys.

"He didn't think I was going to survive," Fair said.

Authorities arrested Roberson, 47, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Fair said he spent five days in the hospital, during which his abandoned truck was stolen, leaving him with nothing.

"It's been really rough," Fair said of the aftermath of the shooting. "I have nowhere to stay, no job. I'm suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder."

The shooting victim, who is staying with a friend, says he still doesn't know what prompted Roberson to shoot him, emphasizing that no drugs were involved as well as no gold deals gone wrong.

"My intentions on that mountain were to work," he said. "I worked on the road and on the prospect... Why would he ever do this to me?"

The man from Illinois says he refuses to go back up to the Banner Grade area again, saying there are too many "unexplained things up on that mountain."

"When Jeff first showed me around up there, he asked me, 'Are you afraid to die?'"  Fair said. "I thought it was weird but I didn't want our relationship to change from professional."

Fair says the experience has become a real eye-opener, with a harsh reality of how alone he is out here and the unexpected nature of human beings. The only explanation he can give for Roberson's turn of the gun is that the 47-year-old man is "crazy."

Looking for a new job and generosity from strangers, Fair said he's physically healthy and ready to work. However, he said, the day he was shot in Julian will haunt him forever.

"I relive it everyday."