The two defendants in the Foster City homicide that left a 71-year-old resident dead after he was attacked in his kitchen while preparing dinner pleaded no contest Monday to voluntary manslaughter.
David Mitchell
Willie Venable
Southern California residents David E. Mitchell, 36, and Willie Venable, 69, will be sentenced in February to 11 years in state prison, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Monday.
Klaus Gachter was killed Dec. 16, 2011, in his home in the 600 block of Waterbury Lane.
A five-year investigation followed, Wagstaffe said, and the defendants were arrested in 2016.
Financial gain was the motive, Wagstaffe said, citing Gachter naming Mitchell in his will. The amount Mitchell would have received was not available, but Wagstaffe said the sum was substantial.
Mitchell previously lived in Foster City and knew Gachter, who was a friend of Mitchell’s mother.
The plea agreement resolves the case with evidence that was largely circumstantial, Wagstaffe said.
A house cleaner found Gachter, a successful international businessman, dead in his home. Gachter was apparently cooking a steak dinner when he was stabbed, according to the prosecution.
DNA of Venable found on a key left in the door lock to Gachter’s home was a critical piece of evidence, the prosecution said.
“It was dripping in DNA,” Wagstaffe said.
Venable did not know the victim but was acquainted with Mitchell from living in Southern California, according to prosecutors.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 106
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LittleFoot said:
Good luck. There is no more selfish + ugly community than Burlingame.
CA Is Burning said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
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