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December 14, 1997 - WILL MAAS ASSIGNED MARCOS RANJEL CASE:
"Will Maas muses on the damage that Marcos Ranjel did to his case by confessing to the murder."

This story is culled from the defendant's own words, information given to the public defender, and the court records of the case.






	12/14/1997 - WILL MAAS ASSIGNED TO THE MARCOS RANJEL CASE Senior Felony Public Defender Will Maas is assigned to defend Marcos Ranjel. The first thing Maas does after visiting Ranjel is to review the confessions that were made without the presence of a lawyer. Since confessions are usually extremely damaging to the defense, Maas strategizes about how to neutralize their power in court or even get them thrown out as evidence.

	1/1998 - DA DECIDES TO SEEK THE DEATH PENALTY District Attorney Terence Hallinan charges Marcos Ranjel with first-degree murder with special circumstances (murder for hire) and seeks the death penalty. Amber Tyler is also charged with murder. Since it is a capital case, it will receive additional funding, and public defender Will Maas will have the time and money to do a thorough investigation, including going to Mexico to check out Ranjel's background and see if there are mitigating circumstances.

	1/1999 - ROBERT SANGER ARRESTED Although inspectors Toomey and Johnson suspect Robert Sanger of having ordered the murder of his ex-wife, they have no evidence with which to arrest him. However, he is arrested on another charge in San Mateo County, California: insurance fraud. Robert Sanger had reported one of his motorcycles stolen, recouped the insurance money, and then was stopped and arrested while riding a motorcycle with parts from the stolen bike as he crossed from Mexico into the United States.

	4/6/1999 - AMBER TYLER ACCEPTS A DEAL TO TURN ON RANJEL After a year and a half in the San Francisco County Jail charged with first-degree murder, Amber Tyler decides to tell the details of Carmel Sanger's murder to a grand jury. In exchange, the district attorney will seek a second-degree murder charge (accessory after the fact) and allow her to be released on her own recognizance. Tyler claims Ranjel told her he was going into The Pink Tarantula to score drugs on the day Sanger was killed. She did drive the getaway car but says she was shocked when the shooting started, panicked and raced away. She also confirms that Robert Sanger asked Ranjel to kill his ex-wife in exchange for money. Tyler becomes the prosecution's star witness against Marcos Ranjel.

	2/13/1998 - SANGER ARRAIGNED ON FIRST-DEGREE MURDER With Amber Tyler's testimony, the San Francisco district attorney has the evidence to corroborate Marcos Ranjel's confession and charge Robert Sanger with the murder of Carmel Sanger (photo of Carmel Sanger courtesy Dan Nicoletta). Robert Sanger faces life in prison if found guilty of first-degree murder with special circumstances (murder for hire). Sanger's second wife, Tiffany Wallace, also implicates him in a videotaped confession.

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