A 55-year-old San Francisco woman has been ordered to spend 31 years to life behind bars for killing and dismembering her roommate back in 2018, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins confirmed this week.
Lisa Gonzales was convicted in April of second-degree murder involving the use of a deadly weapon in connection with the death of 61-year-old Margaret Mamer, who she lived with at the time.
The case first came to light after Mamer’s friends grew concerned when they hadn’t heard from her for several days. They reported her missing to San Francisco police in June 2018. Investigators later learned that tension had been building between Mamer and Gonzales in the months before her disappearance.
Just a day after the missing persons report was filed, someone came forward and told police that Gonzales had killed her roommate, cut up her body, and stashed the remains inside a container in the basement of their home.
When officers first approached Gonzales about Mamer’s whereabouts, she claimed she had helped her roommate move out weeks earlier and that Mamer had since relocated to Eureka. That explanation didn’t hold up. As detectives dug deeper and searched the home, they discovered Mamer’s remains hidden exactly where the tip had pointed them.
Investigators also said blood spatter was still detectable in Gonzales’s bathroom, despite an apparent attempt to clean the scene with bleach.
Gonzales is now expected to serve her sentence in a state prison facility.
Following the sentencing, DA Jenkins thanked the jury for their role in securing a conviction, stating that the court’s decision holds Gonzales accountable for what she called a heinous crime. She also acknowledged that Mamer’s loved ones endured a long and painful wait for justice, and expressed gratitude for their patience throughout the legal process.
The case remains one of the more disturbing homicide investigations handled by the department in recent years.