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2 More Suspects In Brutal SF Golden Gate Park Homicide Arrested

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Two more suspects have been arrested in connection with a vicious homicide last May in which a homeless man was allegedly beaten, tortured and then drowned in a Golden Gate Park lake, San Francisco police said Wednesday.

Sahmanntha Rundstrom, 19, was arrested on Tuesday by police in Flagstaff, Arizona, and will be extradited back to San Francisco, according to police Officer Giselle Talkoff.

Also on Tuesday, 26-year-old Michael Grasso was arrested in San Francisco and was being held at county jail on suspicion of murder and inflicting injury on an elder likely to cause great bodily injury, said Talkoff. Bail was set at more than $1 million.

According to published reports, Flagstaff police received a tip from San Francisco police investigators that the suspect had posted she was stuck in the Arizona city after her car broke down.

Police had spoken to Rundstrom last week in response to complaints she was camping illegally, but she reportedly gave officers false identification. Authorities were able to determine her identity after sharing a photo of the suspect one of the officers had taken with his body camera with the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, according to reports.

Rundstrom was wanted in connection with the death of 66-year-old Stephen Williams, whose body was found lying face down at Golden Gate Park's Alvord Lake by a gardener around 7 a.m. on May 24. Police quickly determined that the death was suspicious.

The assailants tortured Williams for three days and eventually killed him, dumping his body in the lake.

Stephen Billingsley, 20, and Niki Williams, 34, were previously arrested in connection with the attack.

Billingsley, who goes by the alias "Pizza Steve," is charged with torture, murder, assault, conspiracy and elder abuse.

Williams, who goes by the alias "Evil," was charged with assault, false imprisonment, elder abuse and conspiracy, in addition to two outstanding warrants for his arrest.

Both suspects had no prior arrest record in San Francisco and are believed to be transients without any longstanding ties to the city, according to police.

Court documents indicate Billingsley and Williams harassed and attacked the victim over a period of more than three days before knocking him unconscious near the lake. Billingsley then allegedly dragged him into the lake along with other unknown suspects.

Shocking video connected to the case surfaced last June showing the victim being taunted, beaten and tortured by a group of men prior to his slaying in Golden Gate Park.

The clip taken during one of the confrontations with the homeless man is as powerful as it is disturbing.

"In the pond you go!!" one man is heard shouting.

"Dunk him, man!!" yells another.

The clip, taken two days before Williams' body was found, provides chilling insight into the world of the homeless and the sense of street justice that also lives in Golden Gate Park.

Williams was known around the park and the people who live there. On the day he was killed, he apparently was seen masturbating in public.

In the clip, Williams is seen being pushed into the pond before one man follows him in, beating him and dunking his head under the water.

"There were kids around, and the man was fondling himself," one witness -- who wanted to remain unnamed -- told KPIX 5.

"We're just going off our instinct," said another witness. "We're going to take care of it."

That man says he didn't take part in the beating, but he was part of the chorus cheering it on.

"I think an off-duty police officer would have done it, too. It was something sick," he said. "And it was something you can't really control. Your anger. Seeing something so nasty."

At the time the video went public in June, police said they believe eight or nine other assailants may be involved in the attacks that led to Williams' death.

Talkoff declined to comment on whether other suspects were still at large, saying the case remained under investigation.

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