Woman Who Dismembered Roommante With Hacksaw In SF Gets Decades In Prison: DA

A woman who killed and dismembered her roommate in San Francisco has been sentenced to more than three decades in prison, prosecutors said on Monday.

Lisa Gonzales, 55, was sentenced to 31 years in prison for the slaying of Margaret Mamer, 61, at their San Francisco apartment in 2018.

"The court’s sentence will ensure that Ms. Gonzales is held accountable for this heinous crime," San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement Monday. "While the victim’s family and friends had to wait far too long for this day to come, we are grateful for their trust in our office and the team on this case to deliver justice."

Tensions had been growing between Gonzales and Mamer, 61, in the months leading up to the latter's killing, authorities said.

Gonzales had given Mamer 30 days' notice to move out in mid-April 2018, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.

When she didn't, Gonzales stabbed Mamer several times, including in the heart, authorities said.

A third roommate testified during the trial that she arrived home on May 15, 2018, to Gonzales telling her not to go into the bathroom, according to prosecutors.

Later that day, the third roommate noticed a metallic smell in the apartment. She also heard sawing noises coming from the bathroom for four hours, prosecutors said.

Gonzales was still in the bathroom the morning after, according to prosecutors. The apartment, meanwhile, smelled of cleaning supplies, a blue container with dirty clothes was missing and a hacksaw was under the sink in the laundry room, authorities said.

When the witness asked Gonzales where Mamer had gone, Gonzales said she had left, "but not the way she wanted to," prosecutors said.

Mamer's friends reported her missing on June 1, 2018, after not hearing from her for several days, authorities said.

Another person later walked into a San Francisco police station the following day and accused Gonzales of killing, dismembering and concealing a body in their basement, prosecutors said.

Officers responded to Gonzales' home in the 200 block of 14th Street that day, where she invited them inside, prosecutors said

Inside, Gonzales told officers she lived with only one roommate and that Mamer had moved to Eureka on May 15, prosecutors said.

When officers searched the storage unit associated with the apartment complex, they found a blue container with human remains, authorities said. The remains were later identified as Mamer.

After processing the apartment bathroom, the San Francisco Police Department's Crime Scene Investigation Team found Mamer's blood splatter all over the scene, authorities said.

They also found evidence that Gonzales tried covering her tracks by cleaning the bathroom with bleach, authorities said.

A jury in March found Gonzales guilty of second-degree murder, along with the allegation that she used a knife in the commission of the murder.