A South San Francisco man was found guilty of second degree murder by a San Mateo County jury on Tuesday, more than five years after he strangled a man at a bus stop in an apparent random act of violence.
Vincent Jesus Osegueda, 40, killed 62-year-old Joseph Mendoza at a bus stop in South San Francisco in 2019 then attempted to hide his body, prosecutors said. Following two and a half hours of deliberation, the jury found Osegueda guilty, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
Osegueda will now be subject to another trial to determine how a 2006 attempted robbery conviction will be calculated into his pending murder sentence.
San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said that Mendoza’s family has been following the case for years, including a stretch of time when Osegueda was receiving treatment in a mental health facility after he was found not competent to stand trial.
“It makes our office and my prosecutor, Mr. King, very pleased that we were able to provide them with justice for the senseless murder of their loved one,” Wagstaffe said. “The hospital did its job – returned him to competence – and we were able to get a trial here, so quite satisfying on all levels.”
Wagstaffe explained that Osegueda could face a sentence of up to 30 years to life, adding that the judge will decide whether to take into consideration his previous conviction in sentencing. Such a move would double the baseline sentence for murder, 15 years to life.
“I’m disappointed,” said Joseph Goethals, Osegueda’s defense attorney. “I think we had a smart jury that worked very hard.”
Goethals added that he hopes the judge will decide to not take the previous attempted robbery conviction into account at sentencing because it would double his sentence for a crime committed nearly 20 years ago.
Around 10 a.m. on Aug. 5, 2019, Osegueda approached Mendoza, who had been waiting at a bus stop near the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Linden Avenue in South San Francisco on his way to work, prosecutors said.
Osegueda got into an altercation with Mendoza, then wrestled him to the ground, beat and possibly strangled him, prosecutors said. When police arrived on scene, they found Osegueda attempting to hide Mendoza’s body near a chain link fence by placing him in ivy and covering him with dried leaves.
When Osegueda was arrested, he declined to make a statement and had injuries on his hands and knuckles, prosecutors added. The killing was believed to be a random act of violence.
“Why was it in his head to attack Mr. Mendoza?” Wagstaffe said. “We’ll never know. … This is going to be one of those unknown chapters in the book.”
Wagstaffe added that Osegueda did not testify at his trial.
Osegueda pleaded not guilty when murder charges were first filed in 2019. Osegueda has previously been subject to involuntary mental health holds.
Osegueda remains in custody with no bail.