Killer who dumped body in Nipomo guilty of murder
December 2, 2023
Kimberly Machleit
By KAREN VELIE
A jury on Wednesday found a Santa Maria woman guilty of murdering a man whose remains were found on a Nipomo golf course in 2020.
Following a trial in which 38-year-old Kimberly Machleit claimed self defense, the jury found her guilty of first-degree murder and use of a firearm causing death. She is now facing up to 25 years to life in prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 9.
Kimberly Machleit is one of three defendants in the 2018 murder of Joseph Martin Govey of Santa Maria. Govey was reported missing in Dec. 2018.
On Sept. 21, 2020, a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s dive team searched a lake at Black Lake Golf Resort in Nipomo and found remains based on a tip from Benjamin Mersai of Grover Beach, one of the defendants.
A day later, detectives arrested Machleit and her boyfriend Donald Anderson.
Machleit, Anderson, Mersai and Govey shared a townhouse in Santa Maria.
Mersai testified that Machleit shot Govey in the face in the kitchen. Mechleit said Covey had a knife and that she acted in self defense.
Using a reciprocating saw, Anderson and Mersai dismembered Govey’s body at their home in Santa Maria before they disposed of it in Nipomo.
For his part in disposing of the body along with drug and gun charges, Anderson was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison.
As part of a plea deal, Mersai is facing three years in prison.
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