2nd Suspect in Suitcase Torture-Killing Says She's 'Guilty' in SF Courtroom Outburst
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The second suspect to be charged with murder in a case involving a 23-year-old man whose body was found in a suitcase floating in the bay last week insisted she's guilty of the crime during her arraignment Friday.
Angel Anderson, 36, has been charged with murder, torture, kidnapping, conspiracy, battery and false imprisonment for the death of George Saldivar.
During the arraignment, Anderson said to Judge Vedica Puri she wished to represent herself and plead guilty to the charges.
"I just want to plead guilty and move on with my life," she said. "I don't want to enter a plea of not guilty because I'm not."
At the behest of her attorneys, Michael Gaines and George Borges, Anderson ultimately pleaded not guilty to the charges.
If convicted, Anderson could face life in prison without parole, court documents said. Her arraignment was continued to Monday morning.
Prosecutors say both Anderson and her co-defendant Gerald Rowe killed Saldivar inside a residential hotel room after Saldivar was bound, strangled with a rope and then drugged inside a room at the Donnelly Hotel at 1272 Market St. sometime between Feb. 3 and Feb. 5.
On Wednesday Rowe, 47, pleaded not guilty to his charges, which include murder, conspiracy, torture, kidnapping, battery, false imprisonment, and possession of a firearm by a felon, as well as drug-related offenses, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Rowe and Anderson engaged in consensual sex with Saldivar the day of his murder.
Afterward, Anderson allegedly tied Saldivar's hands to a chair.
Rowe then helped Anderson tie a rope around Saldivar's neck, which was suspended to a stationary object, and Anderson also placed a bag over Saldivar's head, court documents allege.
Rowe left the room but returned with drugs, which he handed to Anderson. Anderson next injected the substance, believed to be fentanyl, into Saldivar's arm, according to court documents.
Afterward, both Rowe and Anderson allegedly used the rope to lift the victim and suspend him, while also pulling and tugging on the rope numerous times.
The pair then lowered Saldivar and placed him on the room's bed and removed the bag from his head, slapping Saldivar's face, court documents said.
Anderson grabbed a suitcase and both he and Rowe allegedly placed Saldivar inside. The pair then wrapped the suitcase in plastic to seal it, according to court documents.
The suitcase was left in the room for nearly a day. At some point, prosecutors allege, Rowe ate food and played a guitar over the suitcase.
Much of the ordeal, including Saldivar's murder, was captured on video, which investigators recovered from the room.
On Feb. 5, around 2:30 a.m., Rowe and Anderson rolled the suitcase out of the room and walked down Market Street, court documents said.
Once near the intersection of The Embarcadero and Howard Street, the pair allegedly hurled the suitcase containing Saldivar's body into the bay. They also took off some items of clothing and threw them into the water as well, according to court documents.
Saldivar's body was found on Feb. 18 inside the suitcase in the water near 1600 The Embarcadero.
Two days after Saldivar's body was found, police in Sacramento detained Anderson and conducted an interview in which Anderson confessed to the murder and tried to exculpate Rowe, court documents said.
After that interview, investigators in San Francisco went to the Market Street hotel room where Rowe was a registered tenant and arrested him.
Rowe and Anderson are being held without bail and both are set to return to court on Monday.
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