A San Francisco woman was sentenced to 31 years to life in prison for stabbing her roommate to death in 2018 and then dismembering the body and hiding it in the basement, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced on Monday.
Lisa Gonzales, 55, was convicted of second-degree murder by use of a deadly weapon in April, after she stabbed the woman in the face, head and chest in May 2018. She then cut up her body in their apartment’s bathroom and put the pieces in a blue plastic tote that she hid in the basement, according to the DA’s office.
The victim was reported missing by two different people on June 1, 2018, one of whom was another roommate at the 14th Street apartment who said that on the day of the murder, Gonzales told her not to use the bathroom.
Later that day, when the second roommate came home from work, she noticed a metallic smell in the apartment and heard sawing noises coming from the bathroom, which lasted for four hours, according to prosecutors.
Gonzales was still in the bathroom the next morning, and when the second roommate got home that night, the apartment allegedly smelled like vinegar and bleach.
The roommate also said she noticed that the blue container that she used for dirty clothes was missing and she saw a hacksaw under the sink in the laundry room.
On June 2, 2018, a “concerned” citizen reported to police that Gonzales had murdered someone and hid the dismembered body in the basement, prosecutors said.
SFPD officers responded to Gonzales’ apartment and asked her where the victim had gone, to which Gonzales replied that she had left, “but not the way she wanted to,” according to prosecutors. Gonzales claimed that she had helped the victim move to Eureka in May 2018.
Police subsequently found the victim’s body inside the missing clothing container in the apartment’s basement, with a scene analysis by investigators finding the victim’s blood was spilled all over the bathroom’s floor.
Prior to the murder, Gonzales complained to coworkers about the victim refusing to move out. When told of the various ways she could legally evict the woman, Gonzales said, “No thanks, I’ll do it my way,” prosecutors said.
Gonzales was sentenced by Judge Teresa Caffese and will serve her sentence in state prison.
