The Santa Clara man convicted last July of murdering former
Hollister resident Dolores
”
Dee
”
Gonzales was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison by Santa
Clara Superior Court Judge John F. Herlihy in San Jose.
The Santa Clara man convicted last July of murdering former Hollister resident Dolores “Dee” Gonzales was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison by Santa Clara Superior Court Judge John F. Herlihy in San Jose.
In 2005 Alexandre Hochstraser, 48, killed Gonzales, his girlfriend at the time, by smashing her head with a large metal bar while she slept in their Santa Clara Apartment. After the murder, he dismembered her body.
Gonzales was born in Hollister in 1961, the fourth of 10 children. She graduated from San Benito High School in 1979 and at one time worked for the San Benito County Free Library. In 1982 Gonzales went to work at Mission College in Santa Clara, where she stayed for more than 20 years.
Dee’s family and many friends have attended court hearings over the course of the trial and said that while nothing will bring their loved one back, they have some peace now that the trial is over. The judge sentenced Hochstraser on March 20.
“We’re not angry – we don’t hate him. We just don’t understand why he did it,” said her mother, Maria Gonzales. “All the people of Hollister and in Santa Clara have helped us get through this. We’ll never forget her.”
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Ted Kajani said since the sentence was the maximum allowed for first-degree murder, he is satisfied with the outcome. He described the sentencing hearing as being full of Gonzales’ loved ones who pleaded with the judge to never let Hochstraser see the light of day.
“This was an extremely brutal crime, not only in how he murdered her, but also what he did afterward is unimaginable,” Kajani said. “I don’t think he should ever get out of prison.”
Hochstraser would be eligible for parole in July of 2030. He would be 73 years old.
