Jury convicts Santa Rosa man in Halloween homeless slaying

A Santa Rosa man who three years ago stabbed a homeless woman to death after taking acid at a Halloween party was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder.

Jurors deliberated about three days before returning the verdict against Jessy Zetino, 23, in the Nov. 1, 2012, slaying of 24-year-old Michela Wooldridge. The finding, by a panel of nine men and three women, marked a significant victory for investigators, who broke open the case after a nearly two-year search for a suspect.

The slaying happened a few blocks from the stately McDonald Avenue neighborhood, a popular trick-or-treat spot that each year draws thousands to some of the city’s most heavily decorated homes.

Zetino’s lawyers said he suffered a drug-induced delusion that Wooldridge was a devil when he attacked her as he walked past her on Fourth Street, stabbing her 13 times.

But the jury rejected the notion that he lost control, finding he was aware of his actions before and after the killing. They seemed persuaded by testimony that he washed his hands afterward, drove himself home and disposed of the knife and bloody clothes.

“Our big thing was he was making rational decisions all night except for a two-minute period,” said a male juror leaving the courthouse who declined to give his name.

The juror said a minority thought he was guilty of second-degree murder, but eventually chose to convict him of the more serious offense.

At no time did the panel consider manslaughter or acquittal, the juror said.

“He voluntarily drugged himself,” the man said.

Zetino, who seemed to show no emotion as the verdict was read, will receive a mandatory 26 years to life in prison when he is sentenced. Both sides were ordered back to court Wednesday to set a sentencing date.

Wooldridge, a onetime Cloverdale High School student, recently had lost custody of her then-?2-year-old son and had come to Santa Rosa from Humboldt County in search of help with drug abuse and emotional problems, according to family members. She slept for a time at the Sam Jones Hall homeless shelter in Santa Rosa before staying at various campsites around town, Santa Rosa police said.

Witnesses said she was killed after midnight when she was confronted by Zetino, who was attending a party in the McDonald Avenue neighborhood. His lawyers said he stepped out to get air after taking one or two hits of a drug called 25I.

Her body was discovered early that morning by joggers.

Police had few leads and the case went cold for nearly two years. A break came when Zetino was picked up on routine drug charges in 2014 and his DNA matched samples taken from Wooldridge.

In building their case, detectives tapped Zetino’s phone and pulled records from the night of the slaying, finding he was communicating with his then-girlfriend, Zoe Kind, of Windsor.

They “tickled the wire” to get the two to talk, sending Kind a clipped copy of a Press Democrat story about the killing with the words “Time to make amends” written across it.

The ruse worked. Zoe called Zetino, who said “Is this about Halloween?” as soon as he answered, police said.

Kind, who kept Zetino’s secret for almost two years, testified against her ex-lover under a grant of immunity.

She said the couple had gone to a Halloween party with friends when Zetino began hallucinating on drugs.

He left on his own at one point and when the two met up again an hour or so later, he reported he just attacked a woman, she said.

She and Zetino, who was covered in blood, searched Fourth Street near the Grocery Outlet to see if they could find an injured woman. When they couldn’t, they went home, only to be awakened the next morning by a friend who said a body was discovered in front of a lampshade shop in the area.

Kind said her boyfriend covered up his involvement by disposing of his clothes and concealing wounds on his hands.

He later confessed to the slaying in a recorded statement played to jurors.

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