Francis Wolke gets 26-years-to-life sentence in gruesome 2018 killing of Kathleen Anderson in Menlo Park
REDWOOD CITY -- A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to 26 years to life in prison for the gruesome slaying of a woman in Menlo Park in 2018, San Mateo County prosecutors said Friday.
Francis Wolke, a resident of Cincinnati, had been convicted in March of first-degree murder for the killing of 62-year-old Kathleen Anderson at her home in the 900 block of Valparaiso Avenue on Dec. 12, 2018.
According to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office, Wolke used a pen and handsaw in the killing of Anderson, whose friend came over to visit and found Wolke inside the home. The friend called 911 and kept Wolke at knifepoint until police arrived.
The Palo Alto Daily Post reported Anderson was left nearly decapitated in the attack. Anderson was the town of Atherton's arborist for 22 years, the Post reported.
Prosecutors said there was no known relationship or prior contact between Wolke and Anderson before the fatal stabbing.
After a jury in March found Wolke guilty of the murder charge and an enhancement for the use of dangerous weapons, and also determined he was sane at the time of the murder, a San Mateo County Superior Court judge on Thursday sentenced him to the 26 years to life term with more than 1,600 days credit for time served.
Wolke's defense attorney was not immediately available Friday to comment on the case.
