Man pleads no contest to killing, dismembering his neighbor
REDWOOD CITY >> A 51-yearold San Bruno man pleaded no contest Friday to killing his elderly neighbor and dismembering the body in effort to hide the crime, according to prosecutors.
David Brian Stubblefield pleaded no contest to second-degree murder on condition of a prison sentence of 40 years to life, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors gave Stubblefield a deadline of March 23 to accept the plea deal, otherwise he faced going to trial on a charge of firstdegree murder, which carries a sentence of 50 years to life, according to District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
To prove first-degree murder, prosecutors would need to show evidence that the crime was premeditated and deliberate.
“We had a pretty good argument that he planned this,” Wagstaffe said.
Prosecutors said Stubblefield and 77-year-old Benjamin Roybal, both of whom lived on the 3000 block of Pacific Heights Boulevard, got into an argument over the price of a space heater on March 11. Stubblefield then sprayed Roybal with pepper spray and shot him to death with a handgun, according to prosecutors.
Later, Stubblefield reportedly tried to dispose of Roybal’s body by cutting it up and dissolving it with chemicals. Roybal’s hands and teeth were never found, prosecutors said.
Stubblefield told police he killed Roybal in self-defense.
The remains were found by San Bruno officers who went to Stubblefield’s home to ask him about Roybal, who had been reported missing on March 29. Body parts were reportedly found in the home and backyard.
Stubblefield is scheduled to be sentenced on May 25.