Brisbane man found not guilty

Young woman was sexually assaulted, bludgeoned in 1989

REDWOOD CITY — A jury has ruled that a Brisbane man is not guilty in the 1989 slaying of a young woman on San Bruno Mountain, a decision that closes the decades-old case, according to the district attorney’s office.

Gabriel Ray O’Neill was found not guilty Monday on all charges in the killing of 27-yearold Sheila Lorraine Hatcher, who lived in Daly City and was a mother of three at the time of her death, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Tuesday.

The case was cold for 25 years until 2013, when a DNA test of bodily fluid from the crime scene led investigators to arrest O’Neill, a registered sex offender.

However, O’Neill’s attorney, Geoff Carr, argued during the trial that O’Neill did not kill Hatcher and instead pointed the finger at another person, Wagstaffe said. Carr argued there was sufficient reasonable doubt as to who killed Hatcher.

Carr could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors said Hatcher and three other people drove to the mountain on March 12, 1989. Prosecutors told the jury that O’Neill and Hatcher walked away from the group, at which point the defendant sexually assaulted and bludgeoned her.

Carr previously told this newspaper that O’Neill was accompanied by his wife and her two brothers the night of the murder, and the siblings provided conflicting accounts of what happened. The attorney said one of the brothers, who has since been deported for attempted rape, was likely responsible for Hatcher’s death.

Wagstaffe said the brother is long gone, “somewhere in the mountains of Central America.”

“We continue to believe we had the evidence to support a conviction,” Wagstaffe said. “The jury didn’t feel the evidence was sufficient.

“We respect the jury’s decision, because that’s how our system works.”