Francis Wolke, the man who allegedly killed former Atherton town arborist Kathy Hughes Anderson in her Menlo Park home on Dec. 12, 2018, pleaded not guilty of murder by reason of insanity in court on Monday, Nov. 9, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
Judge Stephanie G. Garratt held the pretrial conference in which Wolke entered the plea, according to the DA’s office. Wolke, 28, and the prosecutor appeared by remote video, while defense attorney Connie O’Brien was present in court.
The court appointed two doctors to examine the defendant’s frame of mind, over the objection of Wolke’s attorney, who didn’t want doctors appointed, according to the DA’s office.
Police arrested Wolke after he was found at Hughes Anderson’s home on Valparaiso Avenue on Dec. 12, the day her body was found, and booked him into San Mateo County Jail on first-degree murder charges, according to a Menlo Park Police Department report.
Wolke had arrived in the Bay Area from Cincinnati just a few days before the killing, and there is no known relationship or contact between Wolke and Hughes Anderson, nor a motive for the crime, according to the DA’s office.
Wolke had an outstanding arrest warrant from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office for prowling and possession of narcotics stemming from a 2014 case, according to Menlo Park police.
A jury trial is set for Jan. 25, 2021, at 9 a.m. This is the third setting of the jury trial date since Wolke’s court arraignment on Nov. 1, 2019.
The defendant remains in custody on $10 million bail.
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