Michael Monert

Case overview

Michael Monert was a serial killer who was convicted for killing three women in Oakland in hammer attacks in 1989 and 1991. He confessed to the murders after DNA testing in 2012 linked him to the July 28, 1991 slaying of Pamela Sanders. He later told police details about other murders, which Oakland police used to determine he also killed Debra Lynne Adkins and Janice Flahiff. All three women were killed in Oakland by being struck in the head with a hammer.

Background

Michael Monert, 50, was raised in Oakland and was described as a former grocer and bartender raised in Oakland. Monert was a registered sex offender and lived in Hayward in 2012 when Oakland cold case investigators matched his fingerprints to those left on plastic bags wrapped around Pamela Sanders’ body, which had been dumped on 24th Street not far from Monert’s workplace. Monert believed the women he killed were prostitutes.

The offence

Pamela Sanders

In July 1991, Monert lured Pamela Sanders into a local market he was working at. When Sanders followed him into the rear of the store, Monert grabbed a hammer and struck her repeatedly in the head. Monert then cleaned up Sanders’ blood and transported and dumped her body a few blocks away. The following morning, a man walking to West Oakland BART found the body of Pamela Sanders laying in the street. Sanders’ body was naked from the waist down and wrapped in two large garbage bags, and she had been beaten about her head.

The offense also appeared as the July 29, 1991 slaying of 33-year-old Pamela Sanders in Oakland. Her body was found on the 900 block of 24th Street.

Debra Lynne Adkins

On Oct. 1, 1989, Monert picked up victim Debra Lynne Adkins on International Boulevard and took her back to his home. When Adkins was in Monert’s room, Monert hit Adkins numerous times on the head with a hammer. He then transported Adkins’ body and dumped it above Skyline Boulevard, face down, near the entry to Roberts Regional Park. Adkins was naked from the waist down with a rope draped loosely over her. Monert returned home and cleaned up Adkins’ blood.

Adkins’ body was found at the entrance to Roberts Regional Park on Skyline Boulevard.

Janice Flahiff

In May 1991, Monert picked up Janice Flahiff and drove her to Courtland Avenue, Oakland. While they were in the truck, Monert hit Flahiff on the head with a small hammer and dumped her body outside his truck. Courtland Avenue was a dead-end street, which necessitated doing a three point turn to leave the area. In his haste to flee the area, Monert ran over the body of the victim. Flahiff’s autopsy found tire tread marks on her leg. Flahiff’s fully clothed body was found lying face up.

Flahiff’s body was found on the 2100 block of Courtland Avenue.

Investigation

Oakland cold case investigators matched Monert’s fingerprints in 2012 to those left on plastic bags wrapped around Sanders’ body. The prints had been on file for a separate sexual assault case in Oregon, and Monert’s fingerprints were matched to those found on a tarp that was covering Sanders’ body. Investigators used details provided by Monert during his confessions to determine that he also killed Adkins and Flahiff.

Monert sent a note to bailiffs at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin in December 2013 saying that he wanted to make a full confession. He then provided Oakland police Officer Herb Sanders with details about Sanders’ death and also said he had killed Debra Lynne Adkins and Janice Flahiff.

In relation to Flahiff, a pathologist examined Flahiff in 2014 and confirmed that she died from the injuries she suffered when she was hit in the head with a hammer, and noticed marks on her legs that looked like tire marks. Investigators asked Monert about the marks, and he said he had inadvertently driven over her while fleeing the area.

In relation to Adkins, Monert told investigators that they would find Adkins’ blood underneath the carpet at his former home on Paxton Street. Police went there 25 years after she was killed and found her blood.

Arrest and charges

Monert was arrested in September 2012 in Hayward, where he lived at the time, and was charged with the murder of Pamela Sanders. He was being held at Santa Rita Jail. He was ordered to stand trial for Sanders’ death after a preliminary hearing.

Monert was charged with the additional murders of Adkins and Flahiff in January 2014, and criminal proceedings were suspended to allow him to be mentally evaluated.

Trial

First trial and mistrial

Monert went on trial for the killings on May 17, 2016. A mistrial was declared on May 18, 2016 at the request of Monert’s attorney, Todd Bequette, based on Monert’s conduct in court, which included talking during opening statements in the case. The mistrial followed concerns about whether Monert was mentally fit for prosecution.

Competency proceedings

In November 2016, a judge found Monert competent to stand trial after a hearing on his mental health. A jury took less than two days to decide he was mentally competent to stand trial on three counts of murder and the special circumstance of committing multiple murders for the deaths of the women in 1989 and 1991. This verdict meant that Monert would have a second trial beginning Nov. 30 on three counts of murder and the special circumstance.

During the competency trial, testimony was heard from several psychologists. Prosecutor Butch Ford told jurors to find Monert competent because five of seven psychiatrists who examined him said that he was competent. Judge Kevin Murphy ejected Monert from the courtroom after Monert disrupted proceedings. Bequette argued Monert should be found incompetent because he was not able to assist him in presenting the defense’s case and because Monert was suffering from a traumatic brain injury from a physical assault in 2002 that triggered a delusional disorder.

Before trial, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Kevin Murphy ordered a third psychiatrist to examine Monert because two psychiatrists had disagreed about competency. Murphy said a third doctor was needed to give a third opinion. Monert said he saw no reason to talk to another doctor and said he had already been examined by eight psychiatrists over the years. Murphy said it was up to Monert whether to cooperate with the third psychiatrist and that if Monert did not talk to the psychiatrist the case could not proceed to a trial.

Trial verdict

An Alameda County jury convicted Monert in December 2016. The jury convicted Monert of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder. The convictions concerned:

• first-degree murder of Pamela Sanders, 33
• second-degree murder of Debra Lynne Adkins, 29
• second-degree murder of Janice Flahiff, 37

A special allegation of multiple murders made life in prison without the possibility of parole the mandated sentence.

Sentencing

Monert was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on January 20, 2017. Judge Kevin Murphy was scheduled to sentence Monert to life without the possibility of parole on Jan. 20.

Appeals

No appeal outcomes were stated.

Other details

Prosecutors included DDA Butch Ford with assistance from DA Inspector Cesar Basa and Victim-Witness Advocate Stephanie Lynch. Bequette was Monert’s attorney. Oakland police Officer Herb Sanders investigated aspects of the case.

Monert told police he believed he lured women he killed because they were prostitutes, and he said he did not have sex with the women. Authorities stated the evidence supported that he was a serial killer. Monert told police he could not give names or dates about the murders. He also made statements that he believed he was going to be electrocuted by investigators. In open court before the trial, Ford described Monert as a serial killer who lured women he believed were prostitutes, killed them by hitting them in the head with a hammer, and dumped their bodies in secluded parts of Oakland. Ford also stated that when Monert made his confession, he revealed information only the killer would know. Bequette argued Monert suffered from delusional disorder due to a traumatic brain injury he suffered in 2002 and that his confession was based on his delusions.

Monert also claimed he killed four women, but authorities said they could not identify the fourth woman, the one Monert claimed to have strangled.