Arcata Hiker Bill Spenceley, 75, Still in Slow Recovery After January Attack

Bill Spenceley has not left the hospital behind. Nearly seven weeks after he was attacked in the Arcata Community Forest on Jan. 30, the 75-year-old hiker remains in a slow recovery, with breathing complications serious enough to send him back to the ICU.

Lauren Spenceley posted an update on the family's GoFundMe page Monday, writing: "At this point, he is still in a very slow recovery phase. There have been moments when he responds to commands that give us hope for a full recovery. But there are also setbacks, including breathing complications that have required him to return to the ICU. Because of this, we continue to ask for your prayers and support." As of Wednesday, the GoFundMe had raised more than $28,000 toward Spenceley's recovery costs.

His alleged attacker, Shawn Kolpak, 51, is being held at the Humboldt County Jail without bail and was in court this week facing two separate violent cases simultaneously. Kolpak is charged with attempted murder and aggravated mayhem for the Jan. 30 attack on Spenceley. He also faces a separate felony assault charge for a Sept. 1, 2025, attack on Ryan Stanoszek.

Kolpak's record of violent incidents extends further. Before his second arrest, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office documented an attack at the Eureka Natural Foods store in McKinleyville in which Kolpak allegedly struck an employee with a two-pound weight, an incident the Sheriff's Office characterized as "assault causing great bodily injury."

Four days before the attack on Spenceley, Kolpak posted to YouTube. "I'm not sure anybody other than me cares anymore, but I am not well at all," he said in the Jan. 26 recording. His social media presence at the time showed a man who described himself as "world traveled," "homeless" and "self-diagnosed autistic" and who wrote that he suffers from complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

Spenceley's family has not given a timeline for his discharge or recovery. The GoFundMe page remains active as the family waits for signs that the moments when Bill responds to commands will eventually hold.