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An Oakland homeless man is in custody and accused of stabbing a beloved mother and United States postal worker more than 12 times as she was coming home from her night shift.
Wilbert Winchester, 28, was arrested shortly after the vicious attack on Dilma Franks-Spruill, 71, in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Two days earlier, Winchester was accused of stabbing a 59-year-old woman on a bus in Oakland.
He is also a suspect in several other similar attacks involving a metal pole and a box cutter that occurred in the same area.
The suspect has a long history of attacking women in public, with Winchester kicking a 73-year-old woman in the head on a train in 2017, resulting in her being hospitalized.
After being charged with assault, he accepted a plea deal in 2018 and was sentenced to three years in prison with one year of credit for time served. He was released in 2020.
The victim, Dilma Franks-Spruill, 71, was stabbed to death in the early hours of Wednesday morning, pictured here with her son.
The suspect Wilbert Winchester, his mother said that he is a bipolar schizophrenic who often does not take his medication
Now, Alameda County prosecutors have charged Winchester with first-degree murder.
In a harrowing interview with KTVU, Franks-Spruill’s son, Miles, said: ‘Three houses away. She was almost home, but she won’t be coming home… Someone came up and stabbed her multiple times.
He described his mother’s death by saying that her throat was slit and she was stabbed more than 12 times.
Miles addressed Winchester in his interview saying: ‘I wish you peace and I wish you goodbye. You took my best friend. You took the last living biological father I have.
In a statement, the USPS said the organization was “deeply saddened by the loss of our employee.” We lost a member of our postal family. Dilma glowed with energy, joy and brought light to all who had the pleasure of knowing her and working with her. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and her co-workers at this time.”
Franks-Spruill’s partner, Welton Jackson, who uses a mobility scooter and is on dialysis, told KTVU that he and the victim had been together for 27 years.
In an interview, her son Miles said, “She thought of me first… she thought of me first and making sure I got to work on time.”
According to Miles, his mother was stabbed more than 12 times and had her throat slit.
Franks-Spruill, a Brazilian immigrant, was an 18-year veteran of the USPS and regularly walked the same route home. His partner, Welton Jackson, who uses a mobility scooter and is on dialysis, told KTVU that he and the victim had been together for 27 years.
The victim and her son were Jackson’s caretakers. Miles Spruill told Jackson during the segment: ‘I hope there is justice. I hope you find what you need to take to heal you. I’m not right. I’ll never be right. It’s going to take me some time.
Miles said in a separate interview with ABC San Francisco: ‘She thought of me first… she thought of me first and making sure I got to work on time.’
He added: ‘My mum was one tough cookie, let me tell you! She was 5’2″ and had a bang, she didn’t mess around, my best friend.”
The Oakland Police Department said in a statement that Winchester has so far said he is innocent of the Franks-Spruill murder.
The Oakland Police Department said in a statement that Winchester has so far said he is innocent of the Franks-Spruill murder.
In 2017, Winchester’s mother, Felicia Cole, told him KRON that your son has been diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia and is not taking his medication. At the time, Cole said that her son had recently started living on the streets.
She also said her son had been in and out of jail since he turned 18.
Speaking about his son’s 73-year-old victim at the time, Cole said: “I’m sorry, that’s all I can say is I’m sorry because that’s my son and I know if in fact he was in on his in his right mind, he wouldn’t have done that to her.
She told the station: “Something has to be done, but it seems like when you listen to the news, it sounds like my son is a horrible person, and he’s not.”
Across the bay from Oakland, crime rose four percent in San Francisco in 2022, despite ousting left-reform district attorney Chesa Boudin earlier in the year.
Theft and armed robbery rose 4.9 percent and 9 percent, respectively, according to the city’s crime dashboard. San Francisco police did not comment on the raid.
A mass exodus has been happening in the city since the pandemic hit in 2020, with many office spaces left abandoned.
That means the city’s streets have become increasingly dangerous, with many locals avoiding downtown sidewalks for fear of a violent encounter with one of the many homeless people and drug addicts who have taken over.
Brooke Jenkins, the city’s district attorney, has vowed to take a tougher stance on so-called quality-of-life crimes, including theft and public drug use.
Meanwhile, the city’s Castro Merchants Association, which represents about 125 businesses, sent a letter to the city government in August, threatening to withhold tax payments if the city doesn’t rein in the homelessness problem. .
Other metro areas that topped the list included other Democratic-run cities like Portland and Washington, DC, which have been dealing with a similar rise in homelessness and violence.