No Contest Plea In Gruesome San Bruno Neighbor Dismemberment Slaying
SAN BRUNO (CBS SF) -- A 51-year-old man has pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in a grisly case where he killed his neighbor and cut up the body last year in a dispute over a space heater, San Mateo County prosecutors said.
David Stubblefield entered the plea to second-degree murder with an enhancement for use of a firearm in exchange for a sentence of 40 years to life in state prison, according to the district attorney's office.
On March 11, 2017, Stubblefield and Benjamin Roybal, his 77-year-old friend and neighbor in the 3000 block of Pacific Heights Boulevard, were arguing over the price of a space heater when Stubblefield pepper-sprayed Roybal and then fatally shot him.
He then cut up Roybal's body and tried to dispose of it with chemicals, but San Bruno police discovered the body on April 6 after following up on a report of Roybal being missing.
Stubblefield will return to court on May 25 for sentencing. His attorney Dek Ketchum was not immediately available for comment.
