40-to-life for grisly murder in San Bruno
A 51-year-old San Bruno man will receive a sentence of 40 years to life in prison after pleading no contest to the slaying and dismemberment of his 77-year-old neighbor, prosecutors said Monday.
David Brian Stubblefield on Friday appeared in San Mateo County court, where he pleaded no contest to second-degree murder as part of a plea deal, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
The deal allows Stubblefield to obtain a parole hearing after serving 25 years of his 40years-to-life sentence under the Elderly Parole Program. His sentencing comes nearly a year after the grisly murder of his neighbor, when an argument erupted between the two over the cost of a space heater.
“It’s an interesting case,” Wagstaffe said.
In March 2017, Stubblefield, a known curmudgeon in the Pacific Heights Boulevard neighborhood in San Bruno, decided to sell his belongings and move to Oregon. His neighbor, Benjamin Roybal, attempted to negotiate the sale of Stubblefield’s space heater, which led to an argument — over what exactly remains a mystery.
“What we can’t tell you is, why did Mr. Stubblefield decide to kill this victim?” Wagstaffe said.
Stubblefield told investigators he killed his neighbor in self defense. In response to Roybal’s escalating anger, he said, he pepper-sprayed the victim. Roybal then grabbed a 9mm handgun and was planning to shoot Stubblefield, he said, but Stubblefield was able to wrestle the weapon out of the 77year-old’s hand and shoot him dead.
“We believe that this part of the story is made up,” Wagstaffe said.
Officers responded to the scene on March 29, when Roybal’s landlord called for a welfare check after not hearing from his tenant. They reportedly arrived to Roybal’s home and interviewed neighbors, including Stubblefield, on the missing man’s whereabouts.
During their interview with Stubblefield, an officer noticed a putrid aroma that resembled “rotting flesh,” Wagstaffe said. Stubblefield reportedly panicked and attempted to flee, forcing the officers to tackle him and take him into custody.
He later admitted to killing Roybal, Wagstaffe said.
Investigators found Roybal’s body parts in both his own house and Stubblefield’s home.
“He had cut them into pieces and he was in the process of wrapping them,” Wagstaffe said.
The coroner determined that Stubblefield had used a chainsaw to partition Roybal’s body parts.
Stubblefield also tried to use household chemicals to dissolve the body, investigators said. Roybal’s hands and teeth have never been found, but a 9mm gun was recovered at Stubblefield’s home.
While the motive remains a mystery, Wagstaffe said, he believes the murder was premeditated because the chemicals were purchased before the crime.
Stubblefield doesn’t have any prior violent criminal history. He was previously arrested for driving under the influence and served 16 months in 1997 for possession of methamphetamine for purposes of sale.
His sentencing is May 25.
Wagstaffe called the crime a haunting reminder of a similar crime that occurred nearly 20 years ago. In 2003, Bobby Tran, now 44, was sentenced to 26 years in prison for the murder and dismemberment of Xiu Jiang, who worked in an illicit massage parlor and went missing in January 1999. She had attempted to get Tran’s help in marrying to avoid deportation.
Tran killed the woman, dismembered her and placed her body parts in a large container that was hidden in a storage unit for years. He made monthly payments on the storage unit until he was arrested for an unrelated incident in San Jose.
While he was incarcerated, Tran defaulted on his payments and the storage unit company auctioned off his unit. The man who won the auction ended up discovering the woman’s body parts as he went through the storage unit’s belongings. That man was Roybal. “What an irony,” Wagstaffe said.