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Francis Wolke, the 36-year-old Ohio man suspected in the killing of Kathleen Anne Hughes Anderson of Menlo Park, appeared in San Mateo County Superior Court on Thursday, Dec. 20, to be assigned an attorney.

According to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe, Connie O’Brien, an attorney with the county’s private defender program, was named to defend Wolke, who was arrested on Dec. 12 after he was found in Hughes Anderson’s home the afternoon her body was found.

Wolke has been charged with first-degree murder.

O’Brien’s request for time to read through some reports before entering a plea in the case was granted, and the case was postponed until Friday, Jan. 18.

Hughes Anderson was found in her Valparaiso Avenue home after Daniel Baggett, an ex-tenant, had visited the house. While there, he told The Almanac, he came across Wolke in the house with blood on him. Baggett kept Wolke in the house at knife-point until police arrived. Police later found Hughes Anderson’s body in the house.

Wolke remains in custody on $10 million bail.

See previous Almanac reporting for more information:

● Dec. 16: Stabbing victim’s death sends shock waves through community

● Dec. 12: Menlo Park: Man arrested in connection with fatal stabbing

Kate Bradshaw writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.

Kate Bradshaw writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.

Kate Bradshaw writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.

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6 Comments

  2. Posted by Bijouxx, a resident of another community

    >> Does anyone know why bail for the person accused for killing Kathy Hughes Anderson in Menlo Park is so high?

    Bail was “traditionally” set high enough to ensure that that the accused appeared in court (ie., set high if the accused is a “flight risk”), but, obviously, when the accused appears to be a violent threat, the bail is sometimes deliberately set so high that it is impossible to meet. Some people have an issue with that. Presumably because some people might say that it presupposes that the accused is violent, even though that hasn’t been proven yet. And, therefore, that it might prejudice the jury to think if they think that the judge presumes the accused is guilty.

    However, personally, I think that judges must have the option to exercise their judgement about the likelihood that an accused will commit a violent crime while awaiting trial.

  3. > …an attorney with the county’s private defender program, was named to defend Wolke,

    Court-appointed attorneys usually carry a heavy case load and do a poor job of representing suspects. They are also paid on scale.

    To successfully win a criminal case takes big money and a proven defense attorney.

    Example…OJ Simpson’s ‘dream team’ of lawyers. They ran circles around the prosecution and even made the presiding judge appear incompetant.

  4. I can’t believe someone is asking why bail is set so high for Francis Wolke? He went into Kathy’s home, and murdered her. He then hung out in her home for hours afterwards. He confessed to murdering her. I don’t know about you but I certainly don’t want a murderer walking the streets. Daniel Baggett lived in Kathy’s home and had a relationship with her. He lived there (with our daughter) for a period of eight years. The two had split maybe six months before her murder. At that point their relationship was not rosy (as investigators keep pointing out) but the two remained friends. Daniel did not know Francis Wolke at all and he doesn’t believe Kathy knew him either. When he went to the house he saw the garbage cans were still out front, he saw Kathy’s car in the driveway, he saw the windows of the house had been closed, which was unusual and he saw there were no lights on – which was also unusual. He went to the back door of the house and it was wide open. He went into the house and turned on a light and sees a stranger covered in blood at the top of the stairs. He asked where Kathy was and was screaming her name hoping to find her and the guy told him that he killed her and she was in the basement. Daniel immediately called 911 and he kept Francis Wolke there until the police arrived. Thank God Wolke didn’t have a gun on him. This was a heroic act on Daniel’s part. When police arrived, Francis confessed to the murder, again. This case was already solved. Police and investigators can keep trying to look for some connection but there is none. This was just a horrible, senseless tragedy. This type of thing doesn’t happen in Menlo Park. It’s awful. I think $10 million dollars bail is not nearly high enough for a killer who has confessed.

  5. I think investigators keep saying that Kathy and Daniel split six months before to raise suspicion of him wanting her dead or in general him doing some foul play too. I of course don’t know but it’s my guess as to why it’s been brought up in the first place. If it is in fact true that Wolke confessed to the murder, then that is a huge step in the progression of the case.

  6. can someone explain to me how Daniel happened to check on Kathy at the exact time that Wolke was there and the murder happened? or did he always go check on her? I don’t get that part…

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