Murderer pleads guilty

A 28-year-old man who fatally stabbed a San Bruno resident in broad daylight four years ago pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and carjacking but a jury is left to decide if he is insane and should be hospitalized rather than incarcerated.

Brandon Louis Gill, of King City, has spent nearly two years in a state mental hospital after court-appointed doctors found him incompetent to stand trial for the death of Romero Lansang. In February, Napa State Hospital doctors found him mentally fit and sent him back to San Mateo County to face murder charges.

Gill pleaded guilty to the two felonies without promise of any negotiated plea, leaving him open to at least 15 years to life in prison for second-degree murder with the use of a knife. However, the insanity aspect of the plea leaves Gill’s fate in the hands of a jury. If jurors find Gill insane, he will return to the hospital rather than a prison.

The insanity determination is actually a financial win for San Mateo County. The county picks up the tab for Gill’s hospitalization when he is deemed incompetent but convicted inmates ruled insane are covered by the state prison system.

The prosecution will not dispute Gill’s insanity position, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Gill returns to court Aug. 25 for a status conference; his attorney is reportedly trying to convince Gill to waive a jury trial in the sanity phase and let a judge rule based on the doctors’ reports. If Gill disagrees, his sanity trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 15.

Either way ends the four-year wait for a conviction in Lansang’s death.

At 1 p.m. March 25, 2004, San Bruno police were called to the 700 block of Easton Avenue just off San Mateo Avenue on the report of a stabbing. Officers found Lansang lying on the ground with multiple stab wounds. A woman later reported that the day before, Gill walked up to her car in the 900 block of El Camino Real and tried to open the door. When he realized it was locked, he tried to pry open the window. While investigating the carjacking incident, officers obtained information that Gill was the person responsible for Lansang’s murder.

Prosecutors believe Gill had no apparent motive to kill Lansang as he walked down the street.

Gill was arrested about three weeks later after his arrest in Monterey for allegedly trying to kidnap a 12-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl the day after the murder.

Police said Gill grabbed the 12-year-old girl from behind in her family’s yard until she began yelling which alerted family members inside the house. Witnesses attempted to follow Gill, but stopped when he reportedly wielded a 12-inch kitchen knife — the same knife police believe he used to kill Lansang.

Half an hour later, police responded to another attempted kidnapping of an 11-year-old girl whose screams scared Gill away. Later than night, police apprehended Gill and learned he allegedly approached and made lewd comments to several girls between the ages of 11 and 13 earlier that day.

In Monterey, Gill’s competency was questioned during trial for two counts of kidnapping, two counts of brandishing a knife and one count each of possessing a deadly weapon, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Before Gill could be brought to trial in San Mateo County, his hired attorney similarly questioned his ability to aid in his own defense. Two court-appointed doctors found him incompetent and he was committed to Napa State Hospital in June 2005 until his return in 2007 when he was deemed incompetent again.

He remains in custody on no-bail status.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.