Charges filed in Analy grad's killing

Criminal charges were filed Tuesday against four men suspected of involvement in the stabbing death of Benjamin Floriani at a weekend party in west Santa Rosa.

A fifth man was to be released pending further investigation, prosecutors said.

Authorities were still working to determine what prompted the slaying of Floriani, a 21-year-old former Sebastopol man. Three other men were wounded when a brawl broke out at the party.

Matthew Timothy O'Day, 19, and Alex Paul Hopper, 20, were formally charged in court Tuesday with murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

Prosecutors said a murder charge was filed against Daniel Bittner, 19, who is due in court today. Noah Minuskin, 19, was charged as an accessory.

All four live in Santa Rosa.

O'Day's brother, Rory Joseph O'Day, 18, also was arrested as a suspected accessory and made a court appearance Tuesday. But no charges were filed.

Deputy District Attorney Craig Brooks said prosecutors anticipate filing formal charges against him at a later date.

Minuskin, who is being held on $500,000 bail, is due back in court Friday for a bail review. The elder O'Day and Hopper are scheduled to return to court on Dec. 28.

Floriani, who was attending San Francisco State University, was killed early Saturday when a fight broke out at a party attended by as many as 75 people in a town house on Blair Place in Santa Rosa.

Efran Vasquez, 22; Aniano Vasquez, 21; and Martin Ponzo, 20, were wounded, police said.

Police declined Tuesday to detail which defendants may have been armed, and would not discuss whether Floriani or any of the other wounded men had weapons.

"We're not releasing any information about who was armed at the party because we still are trying to find witnesses," Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Lisa Banayat said. "We're still trying to locate a couple people who were named as being present at the party."

Attorney Peter Ottenweller, who represented the elder O'Day in court Tuesday, said the family would not comment on the case. Timothy and Rory O'Day are younger brothers of Patrick O'Day, a Marine who in 2003 became the first Sonoma County serviceman to die in the Iraq War.

Relatives of Hopper who attended the hearing also declined interview requests.

A mother whose son befriended Floriani and was at the party said a female graduate of Analy High School was the host. She said Floriani and his friends knew none of the defendants.

"It's a complete mystery," she said, asking not to be identified because her son and his friends feared retaliation. "All the kids I've talked to just say it happened real suddenly."

You can reach Staff Writer Katy Hillenmeyer at 521-5274 or katy.hillenmeyer@

pressdemocrat.com.