SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco woman was charged with murder in the slaying of her roommate, whose dismembered body was discovered in oozing plastic bags inside a maggot-filled storage container at their home, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Police arrested Lisa Gonzales, 47, on Saturday after her 61-year-old roommate was reported missing. Gonzales told police that her roommate refused to move out and the two of them argued on May 15, a San Francisco prosecutor said in a court filing.
“When asked about what happened next, the Defendant informed investigators that she thinks she ‘flipped,’ but didn’t have a ‘real recollection’ of what happened,” Adam Maldonado said in the filing. “When asked what the Defendant thought took place, the Defendant replied ‘probably nothing good.'”
Police discovered the victim’s severed arms and legs in the storage container. An initial review showed signs of blunt force trauma and sharp force injuries, Maldonado said.
An email to the public defender’s office, which is representing Gonzales, was not immediately returned. Gonzales is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday, and prosecutors have asked a judge to order that she be held without bail.
Prosecutors identified the victim in court on Wednesday as Maggie Mamer, according to the San Francisco Chronicle .
Mamer had lost her home and “fallen on hard times” when Gonzales in August 2017 offered her a room, Maldonado said in the court filing. They agreed on $400 a month as rent. But after items around the home began to get misplaced or broken, Gonzales told Mamer in April to move out in 30 days or face eviction, the prosecutor said.
Marion Garbo Seltzer, a friend of Mamer’s who lives in Maine, told the Chronicle that Mamer told her recently that her roommate was forcing her to move out abruptly.
“I could tell she felt panic and overwhelmed,” Seltzer said. “I suspected she didn’t have money and transportation. I had a sense she was paralyzed.”
By SUDHIN THANAWALA
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