As 2020 draws to a close, and none too soon, you will remember another horrible event of the year–the murder of 94-year old Glen Park resident, Leo Hainzl, as he walked his dog outside Glen Canyon Park on Memorial Day morning.
The alleged perpetrator is Peter Rocha, a homeless man who frequented the neighborhood and was a known menace and who had previously been reported to the police.
The Glen Park News published a tribute to Hainzl on May 27. Read the original story here.
The Glen Park Association has been keeping tabs on the investigation but details haven’t been available until now. Matt Donahue, an Assistant District Attorney for San Francisco, in addition to his other duties, has been named our District 8 Liaison. In this role he works with Supervisor Mandelman’s office, the SFPD and other community agencies to respond to the concerns of District 8 residents. He can be reached at matthew.donahue@sfgov.org.
Donahue has looked into the Peter Rocha case and recently gave us an update.
“Everything in this update is public record. Mr. Rocha has been charged with second degree murder, among other things. He is currently in custody. A preliminary hearing was held and Mr. Rocha was held to answer on the charges, meaning that we can now proceed to trial. Mr. Rocha appealed the court’s holding, but the appeal was denied. After the appeal denial, Mr. Rocha’s defense counsel declared a doubt regarding his competency to stand trial, and after several hearings, a judge agreed that Mr. Rocha was not competent to stand trial at this time. There is another court date regarding Mr. Rocha’s status at the end of January, but he will remain under locked care until he is brought back to competency.”
We’ll report back as we learn more.