David DePape, the man who attacked exactly two years ago with a hammer to the head Paul Pelosi, the husband of influential Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, was sentenced this Tuesday by a San Francisco judge to life in prison without the possibility of parole. “It is my intention that Mr. DePape never leaves prison or receives any benefits,” said Magistrate Harry Dorfman before announcing the punishment. The new sentence for the crimes of aggravated kidnapping, home invasion and retention of an elderly adult has been the result of a trial in the California courts. The sentence is added to the 30 years in prison that DePape received in May after a trial for federal crimes.
DePape appeared in court dressed in the inmates’ orange jumpsuit and with his hair tied in a ponytail. When Judge Dorfman gave him the opportunity to speak before those present, the man read a lengthy letter for 45 minutes. This was full of conspiracy theories such as that September 11 was a planned attack in the United States, that he was a “psychic” and his wife had been replaced by a double, and magical homicidal rituals. In addition, he stated that the Government provided defense lawyers who acted against him. At no time did he apologize to the Pelosi family for the attack.
“I have no sympathy for you. I only have empathy for the victim who, in this case, is lucky to be alive,” the judge told DePape. Dorfman considered he did justice with his decision. The judge also rejected the defense’s request to repeat the trial. The defendant’s lawyers had requested the new process by arguing that the prosecutor added aggravated kidnapping, the most serious charge, after three other accusations were dismissed so that the crimes of the federal jurisdiction were not repeated with those of the federal process.
Christine Pelosi, daughter of Paul and Nancy Pelosi, read a statement in which she asked the court for “the highest possible sentence under the law.” His words described how the attack forever changed the life of his father, who was then 82 years old on the day. “Sleeping alone in my house still makes me remember the accused entering my house (…) It took several months to feel calm and good again,” Paul Pelosi wrote in his message.
Following the hearing, Adam Lipson, the defendant’s attorney, addressed the media. “As you could see, Mr. DePape is not well,” the lawyer said. “His condition has combined with the terrible things on the internet that seek to hook people and lead them down a horrible path,” he said. During the judicial process it was revealed that DePape suffers from a psychoaffective disorder that causes hallucinations and delusions. Lipson assured that at the beginning of the process he ruled out the possibility of requesting an abbreviated process due to his client’s dementia, arguing that it could not apply to this case.
Born in Canada and with more than 20 years in the United States, DePape was a frequent consumer of far-right media. He believed that the media continually lied about Donald Trump, an opinion he angrily poured out on various blogs and online forums. The entries were deleted after the attack on October 28, 2022. The accused was also a supporter of the QAnon cultwho believes that Washington’s political leadership worships the devil and traffics children from a Washington pizzeria. That autumn nightThe intruder planned to break Pelosi’s knees if she did not admit before the camera the corruption plot in which the most radical Trumpist followers believe involved. When she did not find the former congresswoman at home, she attacked her husband. David DePape will not set foot on the street again for several decades.
