SAN BRUNO, Calif. -- A 51-year-old man pleaded no contest to second-degree murder Friday in a grisly case in San Bruno where he killed his neighbor and cut up the body last year in a dispute over a space heater, San Mateo County prosecutors said today.
David Stubblefield entered the plea to second-degree murder with an enhancement for use of a firearm in exchange for a sentence of 40 years to life in state prison, according to the district attorney's office.
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VIDEO: San Bruno man accused of killing neighbor during space heater argument
On March 11, 2017, Stubblefield and Benjamin Roybal, his 77-year-old friend and neighbor in the 3000 block of Pacific Heights Boulevard, were arguing over the price of a space heater when Stubblefield pepper-sprayed Roybal and then fatally shot him, prosecutors said.
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He then cut up Roybal's body and tried to dispose of it with chemicals, but San Bruno police discovered the body on April 6 after following up on a report of Roybal being missing, prosecutors said.
Stubblefield will return to court on May 25 for sentencing. His attorney Dek Ketchum was not immediately available for comment.
This is a mugshot of David Stubblefield, 50, who was arrested for murder and several other charges on Thursday, April 6, 2017. (San Bruno Police Department)