Accomplice in Santa Rosa hotel killing gets life without parole

The second of two defendants convicted of murdering a Marin County marijuana dealer at a Santa Rosa hotel was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Donald Parker, 36, of Vallejo stared ahead in silence as he received the punishment for the Aug. 31, 2014 slaying of Max Weinreb, 21.

Prosecutors said Parker planned to rob Weinreb, his one-time friend, when he set up a meeting to buy 10 pounds of pot from him at the former Vagabond Inn on Cleveland Avenue.

Instead, Parker’s accomplice, David Espinal, 47 of Sacramento, shot Weinreb to death after confronting him in a room. Both men were caught a short time later and convicted in August of first-degree murder with special circumstances.

Espinal, an ex-convict with a long criminal record, was sentenced to life without parole in September.

Weinreb’s mother on Tuesday urged the same treatment for Parker. She acknowledged her son was wrong to sell pot but said it did not warrant his brutal slaying.

“This is the behavior of soulless people,” Marion Weinreb told the judge, Rene Chouteau, before playing a short video of her son’s life.

Neither Parker nor his lawyer spoke at the hearing.

Espinal testified at trial he shot Weinreb in self-defense when Weinreb pulled a gun on him. In fact, police arriving at the scene found a pistol under Weinreb’s body.

But evidence suggested the killing happened during a botched attempt to rob Weinreb. The two men brought duct tape to the hotel in what prosecutors said was a plan to bind Weinreb.

Jurors said it appeared Espinal pulled his gun first and Weinreb was shot when he reached for his own weapon.

“Ultimately, we felt these two guys planned a robbery,” one unidentified juror said. “One brought the tape, one brought the gun.”

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.