“There was a person bleeding out, [he was] standing over the person, repeating Bible verses and other types of incoherent nonsense,” one man who allegedly saw the video said.
A man accused of murdering a woman in San Mateo, California allegedly posted video of the crime to Facebook, leading to his eventual arrest.
According to the San Mateo Police Department, they received a call from sheriffs in Nevada, after they got a report from someone who witnessed a “stabbing” on the social media platform and provided them with the name and phone number of the person who posted the footage.
The suspect was later identified as 39-year-old Mark Mechikoff, of Pacifica, CA.
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“There was a person bleeding out, [he was] standing over the person, repeating Bible verses and other types of incoherent nonsense,” another person who allegedly saw the video, Ryan Lenahan, told KTVU.
Lenahan said he called Mechikoff “sick” in the comments and added “I hope you’re in custody” when he saw the footage, before getting a phone call from the suspect two hours later. “He was just talking all sorts of babble, and he appeared to be in the same location as the crime took place,” Lenahan added.
After that call, Lenahan said he called local police.
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After sheriffs in Nevada pinged Mechikoff’s phone, they traced it to a large apartment complex in San Mateo, CA, prompting them to reach out to the PD in the area. With no exact apartment number to go off of, this led to an “almost 3-hour” search of the complex, as San Mateo police officers went door to door in an attempt to locate the possible victim and suspect.
Per cops, “officers established a possible connection and located a decedent” in her apartment; the suspect had already left the scene. They knew Mechikoff’s identity and were still able to track his phone, however, locating him within two hours and arresting him “without incident.” According to cops, Mechikoff “had known” the victim and, per NBC Bay Area, police said he was in possession of the suspected murder weapon when apprehended.
“While the motive for stabbing the victim is still under investigation, we do know Mechikoff mercilessly filmed the last moments of the victim’s life and posted the video to Facebook, then fled the area,” police said in a press release.
According to ABC News, the victim was identified by prosecutors as Claribel Estrella. The DA’s office, meanwhile, plans to charge Mechikoff with a single count of murder with enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury and the use of a knife.
“It’s pretty hideous what that video contained,” the San Mateo Police Department PIO told NBC Bay Area. “Not only was there a victim that ultimately lost her life, which is bad enough, for him to take it a step further and post a video about it is pretty disturbing.”