SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A San Francisco jury has recently reached a guilty verdict in a disturbing murder case involving torture. Prosecutors stated that 23-year-old George Randall-Saldivar was subjected to horrifying acts before his death, including being hung by a noose, sodomized, suffocated, and injected with a lethal dose of fentanyl.
According to Assistant District Attorney Charly Weissenbach, the victim was still alive when he was stuffed into a suitcase and left to die. The following day, the suitcase containing the victim’s body was rolled down Market Street and dumped into the San Francisco Bay. Weissenbach described the disposal of the victim’s body as an inhumane act, comparing it to being discarded like garbage.
Angel Anderson, aged 41, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, torture, and poisoning, while her co-defendant, 52-year-old Gerald Rowe, was convicted by a jury trial for charges of first-degree murder, torture, poisoning, and conspiracy.
Weissenbach expressed the shocking nature of the trial, stating that it revealed some of the most egregious charges and horrific facts that anyone should have to hear or experience. Although the conviction cannot undo the victim’s suffering, it serves as condemnation for the defendants’ depravity and inhumane actions.
Testimony during the trial revealed that Saldivar had visited Rowe and Anderson at Rowe’s apartment on Market Street in February 2019. The three individuals reportedly engaged in consensual sex. However, tensions escalated, and Anderson confronted Saldivar with a machete, binding him and subjecting him to hours of torture that included physical abuse, sodomy, and suffocation.
Rowe left the apartment to purchase fentanyl during the torture, returning to inject the victim with a lethal dose along with Anderson. Within minutes, the victim began to convulse and struggle to breathe. Despite still being alive, Rowe and Anderson folded him into a suitcase and waited for his death.
Approximately 20 hours later, Rowe and Anderson, disguised, rolled the suitcase containing Saldivar’s body for almost two miles to Rincon Park, where it was eventually thrown into the San Francisco Bay. The victim’s body was discovered two days later near Pier 39.
After the victim’s body was found, Sacramento police alerted San Francisco police that Anderson had confessed to the murder. Anderson was transported back to San Francisco and booked into jail for murder, with Rowe being connected to the crime as an accomplice.
Rowe is currently in custody awaiting his sentencing hearing on March 18, where he faces life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Anderson, who identifies as transgender, will also be sentenced on the same day to 25 years to life in state prison.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins expressed relief for the victim’s family, who had long awaited justice in this case. Jenkins thanked the jury for their dedication to such a serious matter and acknowledged the heinous actions committed by Rowe and Anderson, resulting in the loss of a beloved son’s life.