SAN FRANCISCO—On Tuesday, October 29, 2024, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office disclosed that David DePape, 44, of Berkeley, California, was sentenced in San Francisco Superior Court by the Honorable Judge Harry Dorfman to a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole following his conviction on aggravated kidnapping and other charges in connection to attacking Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s, Paul Pelosi, husband in their home on October 28, 2022.
DePape was convicted by a jury of aggravated kidnapping (Pen. Code 209, subd. (a)), first degree residential burglary (Pen. Code section 459), false imprisonment of an elder by violence or menace (Pen. Code section 368, subd. (f)), threatening the life of a family member of a public official (Pen. Code section 76, subd. (a)) and dissuading a witness by force or threat (Pen. Code section 136.1, subd. (c)(1)). The jury also found true allegations that the defendant inflicted great bodily injury (Pen. Code section 12022.7, subd. (c)) and personally used a deadly or dangerous weapon (Pen. Code section 12022, subd. (b)(1)) during the commission of his crimes.
According to the evidence and testimony presented at trial, on October 28, 2022, DePape was arrested by the San Francisco Police Department after breaking into the home of then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband. He attacked Paul with a hammer, fracturing his skull and causing serious injuries to his right arm and hand. Pelosi did not know the attacker nor had ever seen him before. Former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi who was DePape’s intended target, was not in the home at the time of the incident.
Assistant District Attorneys Sean Connolly and Phoebe Maffei stated, “There is no rejoicing in such cases. There are no winners. The sentence reflects the seriousness of the defendant’s conduct and the great harm he inflicted upon an innocent man.”
