A 39-year-old Pacifica man accused of killing a woman in San Mateo on Wednesday "mercilessly filmed" the final moments of the victim's life and posted the video on Facebook, according to police.
The suspect, identified as Mark Mechikoff, was arrested in San Jose within two hours of police finding the victim dead in an apartment along the 200 block of 36th Avenue in San Mateo, police said.
On Friday, the San Mateo Coroner identified the victim as 41-year-old Claribel Marie Estrella.
That same day, Mechikoff appeared in court in San Mateo to be arraigned. His request for a court-appointed lawyer was approved and another hearing was set for August 4. Mechikoff is being kept in custody without bail.
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San Mateo police said they first learned about the incident at 3:48 p.m. Wednesday when authorities in Nye County, Nevada informed them that a person reported witnessing a "stabbing" on Facebook.
The person who reported witnessing the stabbing provided authorities with the name and phone number of the person who posted the video on Facebook, police said.
Nye County authorities "pinged" the phone number connected to the Facebook account and received a result that came back to a large apartment complex on the 200 block of 37th Avenue in San Mateo, police said.
San Mateo police officers swarmed the area and went door to door searching for a possible victim and/or suspect. After searching for nearly three hours, officers found the victim dead in an apartment in the complex, police said.
Mechikoff was not at the scene, but authorities managed to find him in San Jose and take him into custody without incident, police said, adding he was still in possession of the suspected murder weapon.
Crews cleaned the outside of the apartment where neighbor Zeena Amer believes the woman killed in the incident lives. Amer did not know Estrella but said she and another neighbor heard screaming coming from the building early Wednesday morning. They did not know if it was connected.
"It was really chilling to be honest," Amer said. "It was frightening because if you think about it 24 hours ago this woman was alive. She had a life, she had friends, she had family, and now she is gone."
Police said Mechikoff and the victim knew each other, but the extent of the relationship wasn't immediately clear. The motive for the stabbing was also under investigation.
NBC Bay Area has learned Mechikoff has a past criminal history, including a Florida arrest in 2019 for allegedly punching a woman and threatening to kill her with a knife.
Investigators are hoping video surveillance of Mechikoff and his own video posted online will help their investigation.
"It's pretty hideous what that video contained," said Jerami Surratt, public information officer for the San Mateo Police Department. "Not only was there a victim that ultimately lost her life, which is bad enough, for him to take it a step further and post a video about it is pretty disturbing."
Anyone with information or security footage connected to the case is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Dave Manion at 650-522-7660 or dmanion@cityofsanmateo.org. Anonymous tips can be submitted online or by phone at 650-522-7676.
