A man who had been sought in connection with the murder of a gay man he was in a relationship with shot himself to death last weekend after police pulled over the car in which he was riding, authorities said.

David Wehrer, 26, was in the back of his father's Peugeot station wagon when police pulled the vehicle over at about 8:15 p.m. Saturday, August 1 at Baker and McAllister streets.

Wehrer's father, Thomas, who had been driving, got out of the car. Wehrer shot himself, came out of the car, and fell down in the street. He was taken into custody and transported to San Francisco General Hospital, where he died, according to San Francisco Police Department homicide Inspector Dan Everson.

Wehrer had been listed by police as a person of interest in the death of Robert Christopher, 56, whose body police discovered Tuesday, July 28 in Christopher's flat at 98 Castro Street. The medical examiner's office had determined that Christopher's death was a homicide, police said in a bulletin issued late Friday.

Wehrer had also been identified as a suspect in an attempted bank robbery and carjacking that had taken place Tuesday afternoon.

Police are still investigating Christopher's murder.

Alan Pringle, chief investigator for the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office, said Monday, August 3 that the cause of Christopher's death has not yet been determined.

He would not say last week how long Christopher had been dead.

Christopher and Wehrer's relationship had apparently been saddled with drugs and violence.

Paul Tollefson Christopher, 50, who had been in a relationship with Christopher for 10 years, said that his ex-partner, a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology, was a writer and artist who was "an amazingly gifted man."

He had a "wicked wit" and was "smarter than anyone I've ever encountered," said Tollefson Christopher, who had taken his ex-partner's last name when they were together.

The two domestic partners had a commitment ceremony in a church in 1999 and were married in San Francisco City Hall in 2004.

But Tollefson Christopher said they had broken up almost three years ago as a result of his former partner's relapsing into drugs "and other relationship stuff." However, he said that he had "stayed involved to some degree," hoping that Christopher would find recovery.

Tollefson Christopher said that Christopher used crack and heroin.

Tollefson Christopher said that a friend of theirs had once brought Wehrer to their house when the couple was having some work done on their trees. Wehrer had apparently owned a tree service business.

It wasn't until four months ago that Christopher had "made an impression" on Wehrer, Tollefson Christopher said.

Violence was soon part of the relationship.

"Early on, David did try to kill Bobby," said Tollefson Christopher. Around three months ago, Wehrer "tried to strangle him with the cord from a lamp ... Bobby was pretty traumatized." Tollefson Christopher said that he didn't know if his ex-partner had gone to police, but he had gone to the hospital.

Asked if his former partner had also been abusive toward Wehrer, Christopher said that there had been "altercations back and forth between the two of them."

Tollefson Christopher said that his former partner had had "a big circle of friends" but most of them had "cut him off" at least a year and a half ago.

"They couldn't take the downward spiral of what they'd seen," he said.

He said that he'd last seen his ex-partner the Thursday before his death.

"He was in bad shape," said Tollefson Christopher. "He'd been in bad shape for a long time. You can't do that to your body for years and not have consequences."

He said that he'd also seen Wehrer, with whom he had "really limited interactions" that day. Tollefson Christopher said that Wehrer struck him as a "damaged soul" who was "sometimes really sweet."

The last day he saw the men, there was a plan to "get clean," Tollefson Christopher said. He didn't know what had transpired after he saw the men, but "clearly" the recovery plan didn't happen, he said.

Troubling activity

Everson, with the SFPD, said that no drugs had been found in the flat. However, he said, "We had been told by others that there was a fair amount of drug use between" Christopher and Wehrer.

Everson said that he couldn't comment on any incidents of alleged domestic violence between the two. He said he didn't believe police had been "called to the flat, per se, but there is some documented evidence that there were some issues in the relationship."

Wehrer had had contact with the police before, but Everson could not provide details.

Lieutenant Mike Stasko, head of the police department's homicide unit, said last wek that there had been prior police reports from Christopher.

Mandela Robinson, 21, who lives about four doors down from Christopher's flat, in the same building, said that she never heard fights coming from the unit, but she noted that it's on the other side of the building.

Robinson said that sometime a couple days to a week before Saturday, July 25, Christopher had rung her doorbell around 3 p.m. He'd told her that his boyfriend had beaten him up, and taken his phone and money, and that his dog had been missing all day.

Robinson said that Christopher had looked "crazed." She said that he appeared cross-eyed, and his gray hair was long and stringy and "so matted that it looked like he never showered."

She said that Christopher had had a cut or a bruise on his eye, but she couldn't remember which eye.

Robinson said that around 10 p.m. on July 25 she saw a couple that she had never seen before and then a man that she had never seen come outside Christopher's flat. She went inside, and when she came back out, the man was peeking out the door. When she came outside a final time, he wasn't there anymore, and the door was closed.

The man matched the photo of Wehrer circulated by police, she said.

Everson said there aren't any other people of interest in the case at this time.

Robinson said she thought the couple that she had seen on July 25 came back the next day, and three or four people kept going in and out of the flat. She said that she didn't see Christopher that day.

Robinson said that she had moved into the building last August, and she estimated that Christopher had moved in around the beginning of October.

At first, Christopher "was really nice," and offered to let her and her roommates watch his whippet and golden retriever, she said. He had said that he'd just gone through a breakup.

Once, when Robinson and her friends had had a party, some of the neighbors had been upset, but Christopher had said, "Ah, I don't care ... it reminds me of my youth."

However, Robinson said that Christopher had "slowly disintegrated ... he just got creepier and creepier."

His hair had become greasy and stringy. Starting in December, a homeless man had been staying in front of the flat "all the time," she said.

In addition, Christopher "always had random people going in and out of there late at night, going in for a quick second, and then they'd leave," said Robinson.

"We do know there were numerous people going in and out of that flat," said Everson. Such activity is usually taken as a sign of drug dealing.

Robinson said she didn't remember the police ever coming to the flat.

She also said, "His dogs were never properly taken care of," and she'd been especially concerned when one of the dogs had a "huge gash" on its head.

Joseph Tirado, 52, who's lived in the building for five years, just three doors down from Christopher's flat, said that Christopher's windows had been open for more than a day before his body was discovered.

Tirado said that the first time he noticed it was Sunday night, and the windows remained open until at least Tuesday afternoon, when he noticed something "malodorous."

 

Disarray

Christopher's flat is a corner unit on the first floor above the garages in the large, four-story building at the corner of Castro and 14th streets.

SFPD's Stasko said last week that Christopher's flat was in disarray, but because of the amount of books, furniture, and other items, "not necessarily from a struggle or anything else. Basically, it was the way the flat was kept."

He said there had also been "a lot of pets" in the flat.

Clutter made up of books, plastic storage bins, and other items were visible through the windows of the unit on Friday, July 31. In one room, there appeared to be a bare mattress propped up on the floor, and a tabletop fan was left running.

Later in the day, someone had left a bunch of purple irises in the mail slot of the front door.

Tollefson Christopher, the slain man's former partner, said that he didn't want the story about Christopher's death to be "sensationalized."

"This is just a sad thing," said Tollefson Christopher. "It's just sad that two people lost their lives, and neither one of them should have ... David is a victim and Bobby is a victim. I wish it had been different for both of them, in reality."

A memorial service for Christopher is pending, said Tollefson Christopher. For more information, contact him at ptchristopher@mac.com.

He said that the animals that were found in the flat had belonged to him and Christopher. He said he's going to keep the dogs. The other animals – three cats, a rabbit, and some box turtles – are with San Francisco Animal Care and Control.

Deb Campbell, spokeswoman for San Francisco Animal Care and Control, said the animals aren't yet available for adoption. She said that normally, when the agency gets the animals of someone who's died, they work to contact next of kin to try to find a placement with family.

Campbell said this stage takes a minimum of two weeks. She said the animals were healthy and had been cared for well.

Everson said that at this point of the murder investigation, the main focus is on Wehrer. Anyone with information about either man or their relationship is asked to call the homicide unit at (415) 553-1145.