Man accused of killing SLO couple in crash pleads not guilty, victims’ families speak
The man accused of hitting and killing a San Luis Obispo couple while they were walking their dog pleaded not guilty to the crime Wednesday.
San Luis Obispo resident Daniel Angel Saligan Patricio, 24, allegedly struck Matthew Chachere, 39, and Jennifer Besser, 36, with his car on Nov. 21.
The couple’s bodies weren’t found until the next day, several hours after police received a report of a dead dog in the creekbed.
The San Luis Obispo Police Department arrested Saligan Patricio on Feb. 27 after a three-month investigation, and the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office subsequently charged him with two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter.
Family members of Chachere and Besser spoke in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Wednesday morning, asking Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen to reconsider his ruling to release Saligan Patricio without bail during his first court appearance on March 1.
Linda Chachere, Matthew Chachere’s mother, told the court Chachere and Besser were not “two faceless random people,” but a son and daughter “innocently walking their dog after work.”
The couple — both employees of E.&J. Gallo Winery — were planning to visit their family in Modesto for Thanksgiving, but they never made it there.
Instead, their bodies lay in the creekbed underneath dense brush for almost two days, she said.
“(Saligan Patricio) didn’t miss the holidays with his family,” Linda Chachere said.
Patricia Blevins, another family member of Chachere and Besser, said Saligan Patricio needs to have some kind of suffering such as jail or a financial burden in order to reckon with the lives he’s taken.
“Our lives stopped on Nov. 23 when we received that news that our children were found and no longer alive,” she said. “We’re in a jail not of our making.”
Police said speed was a factor in fatal crash
According to police, Saligan Patricio was traveling in the 3400 block of Sacramento Drive when he lost control of his vehicle and fatally struck the couple and their pet. His vehicle hit the curb, a street sign and the bridge that spans the creek, police said.
Police responded to the scene at the time of the crash and took a traffic accident report, but did not find the couple or their dog until the next day. Police determined speed was likely a factor in the crash.
The deputy district attorney trying the case previously said in court that Saligan Patricio was driving 60 mph “on a street he knew well,” despite the speed limit being 25 mph.
She also said he was on his phone moments before the crash and was known to be drinking earlier that day.
Police conducted a DUI investigation in the crash, but did not find evidence to support that charge, the deputy district attorney confirmed at the March 1 hearing.
According to the most recent probation report, Saligan Patricio is at the lowest possible risk for reoffending and lowest possible risk for failing to appear in court, van Rooyen said.
Because of that, it is unconstitutional for the court to set an unaffordable bail, the judge said.
Punishment is not a consideration at this point in the legal process, van Rooyen explained, only whether the defendant is a flight risk or risk to public safety.
Ilan Funke-Bilu, Saligan Patricio’s attorney, said Wednesday that his client has continued to work and stay in the area, and has attended five Alcoholics Anonymous meetings since his release.
Saligan Patricio will stay out of jail custody, the judge said, and will continue to wear an ankle monitor until his trial.
Saligan Patricio has surrendered his driver’s license and must refrain from drinking alcohol and from going to places that sell alcohol, along with other probation requirements.
The next hearing in the case is April 20.
This story was originally published March 22, 2023 at 10:25 AM.
