OAKLAND — A 32-year-old man has been arrested and charged with two counts of murder in the Thursday morning fatal shootings of a woman and a man in an Uptown district luxury high-rise apartment building, authorities said Friday.
Franz Gadient, of Oakland, was charged with murdering Mari Alice Shaw, 22, and Jesse Sky Willner, 44, along with special allegations that claim he personally shot both victims. Court records reveal that it was Gadient who originally called 911 to report that Willner, “an intruder,” shot his girlfriend, Shaw, and that he was forced to kill Willner in self-defense.
Police said in court records that Gadient’s self-defense claim was contradicted by “physical evidence” at the crime scene. Authorities said Shaw lived in the 33rd-floor apartment at the building at 447 17th Street and Willner, an Oakland resident, was apparently visiting the apartment.
Authorities said Gadient and Shaw had been dating for two years and that Shaw does not appear to have been the intended target. They believe Willner was visiting Gadient and the two got into an argument during the visit.
Both victims were found about 12:10 a.m. Thursday in the apartment, and they were pronounced dead at the scene. Shaw was found lying in a bed and Willner was on the floor next to the bed, both suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
When police arrived they observed a firearm on a coffee table and made contact with a man, whom they detained but later released. They then located Gadient, who was covered in blood, and yelled to the first man, “Don’t say s—,” according to a police probable cause statement filed in court.
Gadient allegedly claimed that Willner shot through the bedroom door, killing Shaw, then entered the bedroom. He said the two struggled inside the bedroom and he was able to disarm Willner and shoot him with the pistol, police said.
The witness at the scene said he saw Gadient run into the living room and put a gun on the coffee table but didn’t witness the actual shooting, according to court records.
A motive for the killings has not been released.
The murder charges were filed against Gadient on Friday afternoon.
Source: www.mercurynews.com