Front Page  »  

Driver who struck and killed SLO couple pleads guilty to manslaughter

February 20, 2024

Jennifer Besser and Matthew Chachere

By KAREN VELIE

The man who allegedly struck and killed a San Luis Obispo couple while speeding on Sacramento Drive last fall pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter charges on Tuesday.

Daniel Saligan Patricio, 24, faces a minimum sentence of probation and a maximum sentence of seven years and four months in prison. He is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on April 9.

On the evening of Nov. 21, 2022, Patricio struck a curb, a street sign and the abutment of a bridge. Officers had the car towed and wrote out a traffic collision report. At the time, they saw no evidence that Patricio had struck and killed a couple and their dog.

The next day, a caller reported a dead dog in a creek bed off Sacramento Drive.

Five hours later, relatives of Matthew Chachere, 39, and Jennifer Besser, 36, reported the couple had not arrived at their expected holiday destination in Modesto. Relatives provided police with photos of the couple as well as a picture of their dog which was the same dog found in the creek bed.

Officers then returned to the heavily wooded creek bed and found the bodies of Chachere and Besser, which were lying in heavy brush.

On Feb. 27, 2023, officers arrested Patricio on two counts of felony vehicular manslaughter. Patricio admitted he drove while texting and that he was speeding at the time of the crash.

Even though Patricio had been drinking earlier in the day, an officer testified during a preliminary hearing that he did not smell of alcohol or appear to be under the influence at that time.

In determining whether to impose an upper term for a criminal offense, the court may consider aggravating factors. In this case, prosecutors are asking the court to consider that the victims were particularly vulnerable and that great bodily injury occurred.

Ilan Funke-Bilu, Patricio’s attorney, is expected to argue against the proposed aggravating factors.

“It is a sad, sad case all the way around,” Funke-Bilu said. “He feels terribly responsible. Sometimes bad things happen to good people.”

Sign up for breaking news, alerts and updates with Cal Coast News Top Stories.

 


Loading...
Subjects:     
Related:


12 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Hopehe does @ least 5 years in prison…. 


4

He didn’t “allegedly” strike and kill the couple. He pled guilty to doing exactly that. He struck and killed the couple. The defamation thing probably still has you jumpy but a fact is a fact.


25

He killed two people and their dog and all he may get is probation?


29

So even with the great Ilan Funke-Bilu as an attorney, this POS still has to plead guilty.


If I were Giovanni, I’d start to get nervous just about now.


15

If things are to be consistent, this is another reason to have more automobile laws. On a serious note, charming couple, may their spirits have every reason to continue.


10

This guy deserves the maximum sentence, which is way to lenient. He knew he hit them and let them die. No mercy for this scumbag.


71

Wouldn’t “good people” have told the cops about the two people he struck, killed and catapulted from the bridge, counselor? Maybe one or both of them were still alive, suffering and requiring medical treatment for hours before the


77

So disgusted couldn’t even finish my thought. Why can’t the driver get one year for every year he deprived the two of them?


34

My friend Hammer was run over by a Hit and run driver on his motorcycle.

The woman hid for months and claimed insurance fraud.

This guy better at least get the same sentence.

You have two people who were walking and are dead.

You had a biker who wS a good man with a fantastic family.

Two driver’s took their lives.

Time to pay the piper for their actions.


52

Let’s hope the judge throws the book at Daniel Saligan Patricio and sentences him to the maximum term allowed by law. This defendant had been drinking, was texting and speeding his vehicle, which led to the deaths of beloved SLO residents Mathew Chachere and Jennifer Besser. There is no way he could not have realized he had hit two human beings and a dog, his protestations to the contrary notwithstanding.


These incidents will continue to happen until our local judges get serious about sentencing these perps to long, harsh sentences upon guilty findings.Daniel Saligan Patricio


51
1 2