Vallejo man charged in Santa Rosa hotel slaying

A 35-year-old Vallejo man arrested this week was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a Marin County resident gunned down last month at a Santa Rosa hotel room during a marijuana deal.

Police suspect Donald “Buddy” Paul Parker and an accomplice who remains at large fatally shot Max Weinreb, 21, during an Aug. 31 drug deal at the Vagabond Inn on Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Dave Linscomb said.

The charges, announced Friday in a Sonoma County courtroom, include special circumstances that make the case eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutor Barbara Nanney said a decision had not been made on whether to seek death.

Detectives still were looking for a second suspect, whom Linscomb described only as a black man in his 30s with a light complexion seen leaving the Vagabond Inn with Parker in a cherry red sedan or coupe.

“We’re still trying to find him,” Linscomb said. “The car is still out there.”

On Aug. 31, Parker and the second man met at the inn to buy a large amount of marijuana from Weinreb and his partner, whom the police have not identified, according to Lins- comb.

During the meeting, Weinreb was shot several times in the torso and died at the scene.

Parker and the second suspect left with the marijuana, Linscomb said.

“It was a fairly large quantity of marijuana that would be considered for sale and distribution,” Linscomb said.

Parker left information behind at the hotel that identified him as a suspect in the shooting, he said.

On Wednesday, the Santa Rosa Police Department’s SWAT unit and violent crimes detectives traveled to Parker’s home on Moonraker Court in Vallejo to apprehend him. They were assisted by Vallejo police and a CHP helicopter due to the high risk of apprehending a potentially armed murder suspect, Linscomb said.

They spotted Parker driving nearby and tracked him as he returned home.

Law enforcement officers surrounded the property and demanded he surrender, Linscomb said. Parker tried to run, heading into the backyard of a neighboring property, but retreated when he noticed officers had surrounded the area. He eventually was found hiding in a trash can along a fence, Linscomb said.

On Friday afternoon, Parker appeared in a blue jail uniform before Judge Dana Simonds during the arraignment hearing. Nanney, the prosecutor, said Parker has been to prison twice before for drug convictions in Sonoma County, in 2002 and 2010.

Parker was ordered to return to court Wednesday for a possible plea.

Parker appears to have lived in Santa Rosa previously, Linscomb said. He was arrested in 2002 with a half-pound of cocaine in a Rohnert Park motel room after a teen girl inadvertently tipped off police by using counterfeit cash to pay for the room, according to The Press Democrat’s archives.

Weinreb’s family has increased a reward to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of the second suspect in the case, Linscomb said.

Anyone with information about the case can call the Santa Rosa Police Department’s violent crimes team at 543-3590.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@press democrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem. You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.