An Alameda County judge on Wednesday sentenced two men to prison in what investigators claimed was a grisly kidnapping-turned-killing nearly three years ago in Castro Valley.
Superior Court Judge Scott Patton sentenced Steve Hanna, also known as Richardo Onteveros, to 15 years to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the death of Benjamin Hemmann, 37. The man’s body was found strangled, bound and gagged with ratchet straps and duct tape in September 2021, in a case that investigators claimed to solve using surveillance footage from an AC Transit bus and the presence of a Baby Yoda doll on the alleged killers’ pickup.
The judge also sentenced another man, Bryan Wu, to six years in prison after he pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary a few weeks ago. He is expected to be released in April 2025, given the fact he has been jailed in the case since May 2022.
A third defendant, Kevin Woodruff, faces a potential six-year, eight-month prison term when he’s sentenced July 2 on charges of committing a home invasion robbery in concert and possession of stolen property.
The sentences drew another sharp rebuke Wednesday from Hemmann’s sister, Laurie Henson, who tearfully blasted plea deals the three men reached a few weeks ago that allowed them to avoid first-degree murder and kidnapping charges.
“I’m not asking for a miracle — I’m just asking for the defendants to be judged by a jury of their peers,” said Henson during the hearing, her voice cracking as she wept. “I just ask for justice to be served.”
Patton on Wednesday called the plea deals “reasonable,” particularly given the “complicated” nature of the case. He also noted the possibility that a trial could end in a hung jury, given the large amount of circumstantial evidence gathered by investigators.
His words were of little comfort to Henson.
“I will not stand silently,” Henson told the judge. “There has to be change. Our court system is supposed to be for the people.”
Moments later, Hanna turned directly to Henson, telling her: “I apologize.” Hanna — who has since changed his name to Said Ahmed Mustafa Ali after converting to Islam in prison — added that her grief was “understandable,” and again apologized.
Hanna, Woodruff and Wu were arrested in spring 2022 and charged with murder after investigators claimed the trio took Hemmann to Skyline Boulevard in Oakland and tied him up. That’s when, investigators said, Hanna drove the man to Redwood Road in Castro Valley, strangled him and disposed of his body.
The investigation into Hemmann’s death nearly stalled multiple times. Yet detectives caught a key break in the case: The discovery of video footage from an AC Transit bus that captured a Toyota Tacoma on the road where Hemmann’s body was found. Affixed to its grill was a small Baby Yoda doll.
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Months after the killing, investigators found the doll — along with three cellphones and black ratchet straps — inside the truck after Hanna allegedly led police officers on a long chase in the pickup, according to court documents. Hanna later told investigators he acted entirely alone, and that he had killed Hemmann “how you kill any (expletive) dog,” a detective said at an evidentiary hearing.
Still, investigators also arrested Woodruff and Wu, citing text messages, GPS logs and other evidence that appeared to tie the men to the killing. Detectives also pointed to statements from Woodruff’s wife, who said the two men bound and gagged Hemmann in broad daylight as joggers and motorists obliviously passed by, according to court records. She didn’t see much that day, despite being in the pickup herself. Rather, she said she knew what happened because of her “great hearing,” according to court documents.
The wife, Mashonna Yvonne Whittle, later recanted her statement, blaming it on her “mental illness” and “intimidation” by Alameda County Sheriff’s investigators.
Prosecutors later also charged her with murder in the killing, claiming they found numerous images of Hemmann’s credit cards, checks and other personal documents on her cell phone, according to court documents. Police also claimed that motorcycles and other valuables taken from Hemmann’s home had been stored at Whittle’s house.
The move was among several that defense attorneys condemned throughout the case, leading to complaints in open court about Deputy District Attorney Nathan Feldman and his actions, which they viewed as “a mockery of justice.”
A judge later tossed the murder charge against Whittle, after he said investigators didn’t have nearly enough evidence to tie her to the killing. She still faces felony charges of first-degree burglary and identity theft.