SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA: California authorities have apprehended a man for murdering a woman with a knife and then uploaded the video of the crime on a popular social media platform. According to the San Mateo Police Department, Mark Mechikoff is charged with one count of murder. The defendant is a resident of Pacifica, a small city within broader San Mateo County.
The victim, 41-year-old Claribel Marie Estrella, supposedly knew the murderer. However, the nature of the relationship between Mechikoff and Estrella has not been publicly disclosed.
Who is Mark Mechikoff?
Mechikoff is currently being detained in the Maguire Correctional Facility without bail. Police said that late Wednesday afternoon, July 26, Nye County Sheriff’s Office informed the local law enforcement about the stabbing in Nevada. A local resident who allegedly knew Mechikoff, called about a disturbing video they had seen on Facebook which showed a man “stabbing” a woman. That Nevada resident also gave the authorities the name and phone number of the man who posted the footage.
Silver State sheriff’s deputies 'pinged' the phone number, subsequently getting a hit on “a large apartment complex” on 37th Avenue in San Mateo. “Without an apartment number and with the variance of the ping accuracy, SMPD officers saturated the area and initiated a door-to-door canvass of the complex to attempt to locate the possible victim and/or suspect,” the police department said in a press release.
Another person who knew Mark Mechikoff called the police
Another person who called the police also claimed to know the suspect. According to Oakland-based Fox affiliate KTVU, Ryan Lenahan told the media outlet that he witnessed the poor victim's final moments in the video. “There was a person bleeding out, [he was] standing over the person, repeating Bible verses and other types of incoherent nonsense,” Lenahan said, adding that he commented on the video calling the suspect “sick” and messaged him to say, “Bro your disgusting I hope they have you in custody.”
Lenahan, who claimed to have grown along with Mechikoff, said that the killer called him via video some two hours later. “He was just talking all sorts of babble, and he appeared to be in the same location as the crime took place,” Lenahan said. He told the outlet that he did not wait any long and called the authorities following the horrifying video conversation with Mechikoff.
When was the killer arrested?
Estrella was found nearly three hours later. It turned out that the ping had been fairly accurate. The victim was discovered, dead, in a unit on 36th Avenue, part of the same apartment complex that extends several blocks in the Hillsdale neighborhood. The suspect already escaped by the time Estrella's body was discovered.
The killer was arrested two hours later after the authorities tracked him in San Jose. “While the motive for stabbing the victim is still under investigation, we do know Merchikoff mercilessly filmed the last moments of the victim’s life and posted the video to Facebook, then fled the area,” the SMPD said in a press release.
“It’s tragic, horrible,” SMPD Officer Jerami Surrat told San Francisco-based ABC affiliate KGO. "It’s tough enough when we lose someone in our community. For someone to post a Facebook video is just hideous and horrible.” “We will review it,” San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told The Mercury-News. “Assuming we do find enough evidence to charge him, the charge we’re looking at is murder with use of a knife.”
A neighbor recalls a skin-crawling moment'
A neighbor, who lives across from the victim, recalled a scream the night before, San Jose-based NBC affiliate KNTV reported. “It was really chilling to be honest,” Zeena Amer said. “It was frightening because if you think about it 24 hours ago this woman was alive. She had a life, she had friends, she had family, and now she is gone.”
