People v. Wolke CA1/4

I. BACKGROUND

Wolke was charged with murdering Anderson, as well as special allegations that he inflicted great bodily injury and used two deadly weapons, a pen and a hand saw. He initially pleaded not guilty and later pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Because Wolke challenges only the jury’s sanity finding at his trial, not its verdict of guilt, we mention only those facts that bear on the question of Wolke’s sanity. A. Guilt phase 1. Prosecution case Around 5:30 p.m. one day in December 2018, Daniel B. went to Anderson’s house in Menlo Park because he was worried about her. Unusually, Anderson had not shown up to work that morning, and her garbage cans were still out at the curb. Daniel B. went into Anderson’s home and saw Wolke coming out of a bedroom at the top of the stairs, looking disheveled. Daniel asked, “Where is Kathy?” Wolke said he had killed her and she was in the basement. Wolke was calm and matter of fact. Daniel B. asked if Anderson was still alive, and Wolke said, “No. I killed her a long time ago.” Wolke also said, “I’m a bad man. I’m a bad person. I’m going to jail.” When the police arrived, Wolke volunteered, “The body is in the basement. I…