2 convicted of torturing man, stuffing him in suitcase, tossing it into California bay after sex
01/25/2024 3:24 pm PST
SAN FRANCISCO (TCD) -- Two people have been convicted of tying a victim up, torturing him, and injecting him with poison before placing him into a suitcase while he was still alive and tossing it into San Francisco Bay in 2019.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced Jan. 23 that a jury found 52-year-old Gerald Rowe guilty of first-degree murder, torture, poisoning, and conspiracy in the death of the victim, identified by San Francisco Police as 23-year-old George Randall-Saldivar. Forty-one-year-old Angel Anderson separately pleaded guilty in the case, and she was convicted of first-degree murder by way of torture and poisoning.
According to the district attorney’s office, on Feb. 3, 2019, the victim, an acquaintance of the pair, went to Rowe’s apartment in the 1200 block of Market Street, where Anderson confronted him with a machete. The victim, Anderson, and Rowe reportedly engaged in sexual acts, KRON-TV reports.
After the intimate conduct, Anderson and Rowe tied up Randall-Saldivar and bound his hands behind his back with zip ties, a strap, and duct tape, the district attorney’s office said. Additionally, the defendants reportedly placed a noose around the victim’s neck that was attached to a pulley device near the ceiling.
The defendants reportedly hit, punched, and sodomized the victim for several hours. According to the district attorney’s office, they also assaulted him with pliers and covered his head with a bag.
Rowe reportedly left the home to get fentanyl, and when he got back, he and Anderson injected Randall-Saldivar with the drug. Randall-Saldivar immediately reacted to the fentanyl and began convulsing and struggling to breathe within 90 seconds. While he was still alive, prosecutors said the defendants placed the victim in a suitcase and zipped it up.
Approximately 20 hours later, Rowe and Anderson "donned disguises" and brought the suitcase from the 1200 block of Market Street to a location near Rincon Park, where they tossed the suitcase into the water. A San Francisco resident spotted the victim floating in the water near Pier 39 around two weeks later.
Anderson reportedly confessed to killing the victim two days after his body was found.
Assistant District Attorney Charly Weissenbach said in a statement, "I am eternally grateful to the jury for their service along with their careful and considerate approach to what are some of the most egregious charges and horrific facts anyone should ever have to hear, let alone experience."
Rowe is scheduled to be sentenced March 18 and faces life in state prison without the possibility of parole. He remains in custody pending the hearing.
Anderson will be sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison on March 18 and also remains in custody.
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