Naman Shrestha
In Investigation Discovery’s three-part documentary series, ‘The Bakersfield 3: A Tale of Murder and Motherhood,’ the focus is on the three mysterious cases that rattled the community of Bakersfield, California, in the spring of 2018. While two of those cases involved the disappearance of two individuals, the third was the killing of a successful entrepreneur named James Kulstad, who was based in San Diego at the time. When he was shot in a peaceful neighborhood, the entire community was stunned. The episode also sheds light on how the mothers of all three victims united and pushed for the investigation of their respective children.
James Kulstad’s Life Revolved Around His Daughters and Surfing
Diane Byrne and Jim Kulstad Sr. gave birth to James John Kulstad II on August 9, 1979, in Bakersfield, California, where he was raised in a loving household accompanied by his brothers and sisters — Joshua, Alexia, Erica, Ryan, Todd, and Steven Hendrix Jr. In 1998, he graduated from West High School with flying colors. Soon, he found love in a woman named Amber Albert, with whom he shared two beloved daughters, Camryn Albert-Kulstad and Autumn Kulstad. Before James could even put a ring on Amber’s finger, she tragically passed away, leaving him to raise his daughters as a single father.
In search of a dream and to give his daughters a fulfilling life, he moved to San Diego and put his surfing talent to good use. Besides his daughters, the beach and surfing were two other things he was extremely passionate about. Although his daughters stayed with their grandparents, he used to bring them over to his penthouse in San Diego and spend quality time. Thanks to his drive for success and passion for entrepreneurship, he managed to find success pretty early in life. James was the owner of a skateboard shop and came up with many designs, including Less Mess Bibs and Torch Skateboard Trucks, which he developed for the Action Sports Industry. In his free time, he also enjoyed cooking, pipeline welding, golfing, and playing in the water.
James Kulstad Was Found Dead in His Car in a Bakersfield Neighborhood
The family-oriented man was also a great friend who loved playing table games and earned his nickname “Joe Vegas.” Things changed for the worse when James suddenly met with an accident and shattered his wrist in August 2007. After going through surgery to get his wrist fixed, he began developing an addiction to pain medication. According to his family, as the addiction intensified, he turned to fentanyl patches and heroin. During his addiction days, things seemed to change between him and his family. In the early hours of April 8, 2018, gunshots echoed in the otherwise quaint Southwest Bakersfield neighborhood, particularly in the 5700 block of Sandstone Lane.
Around 1 am, 38-year-old James Kulstad was shot in his car, which crashed into a parked trailer. His brother, Ryan, found him and told his mother. Devastated and shocked, the entire family rushed to the crime scene in the middle of the night. When the authorities arrived, they pronounced him dead and learned that he had died of multiple gunshot wounds. His daughter, Camryn, revealed what she felt when she learned about her father’s demise. She told KGET, “I instantly just hit the ground, because I couldn’t keep my body up because I had just nothing in me, everything was just taken out of me.” Meanwhile, the police immediately launched a homicide investigation to get to the bottom of the case and find the perpetrator behind the crime.
The Killer of James Kulstad is Unidentified and Remains at Large
Upon interviewing the residents of the neighborhood and potential witnesses of the murder of James Kulstad, the authorities learned that he was shot while he was driving out of the neighborhood. According to witnesses, the entrepreneur was leaving a Bakersfield chiropractor’s house, where he allegedly wasn’t welcome. As the investigation progressed, his death was linked to the Bakersfield 3, which included the disappearances of Micah Holsonbake and Baylee Despot in Bakersfield around the same time. However, when Micah’s case was solved, the authorities made it official that James’ murder case was unrelated.
Despite their best efforts, all that the authorities learned from the investigation was that a suspicious silver sedan was seen driving away from the crime scene at a swift speed. Although most of the individuals with whom he was on the fateful night had a criminal past, none of them could be connected to his killing. Moreover, neither his mother nor his daughter knew any of them, indicating that they were not important to James. Nearly a year later, his daughter, Camryn, shared how much she missed her father.
“I miss holding him. I miss him picking me up from school when I was in high school and making me kiss him on the cheek and I was so embarrassed. I miss that so much…but I still have him here, and I really want the person who killed him to just look me in my eyes and see everything they’ve done to me because they didn’t just kill him, they’ve caused me so much pain,” she said. To this day, his case remains unsolved, with the killer at large and unpunished for the crime. The Kern County Secret Witness Program has offered a reward of up to $10,000 for any kind of information that might lead to the capture of the perpetrator behind James Kulstad’s murder.
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