Life Sentence for S.F. Man Convicted in 'Cold Hit' Murder Case

A San Francisco Superior Court judge has brought to a close, at least for now, a murder case that remained a mystery for 17 years and has taken 13 more to make its way through the courts.

Judge Jeffrey Ross on Tuesday sentenced John Davis, 48, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the Dec. 4, 1985, murder of Barbara Martz in her Potrero Hill home. The sentence was not a surprise: It's the mandatory penalty required after Davis' conviction last month of first-degree murder with two special circumstances -- burglary and rape.

Martz, who was 28 when she was stabbed and slashed to death, was an art and commercial photographer who shared a studio on Sixth Street with two partners. Earlier in 1985, she had traveled to Nepal and documented a trek there she planned to make the subject of a documentary film.

Two of those closest to Martz -- her boyfriend, Bobby Adams, and roommate, Melinda Lowe -- spoke during the brief hearing at the Hall of Justice.

Lowe recalled Martz as energetic, "a body in motion -- hiking, gardening, cross-country skiing" -- and someone whose photography reflected a deep sympathy with other people and their condition.

Lowe testified during Davis' trial that she had been home briefly early the evening of the murder, but left again before Martz returned home from work. Evidence suggests Davis surprised Martz while she was unloading groceries, raped her and stabbed her with a large kitchen knife.

In reflecting on her roommate's death, Lowe said, "I have been thinking of a different scenario, one in which Barb wasn't left alone in her hour of greatest need." Lowe called it "bargaining with a higher power for a different outcome."

Davis was not identified as the suspect in the case until 2002, when the San Francisco Police Department's new crime lab developed a DNA profile from semen recovered from Martz's body. That profile matched a DNA sample that Davis had been required to submit as a state prison inmate.

He was subsequently charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances. Davis' public defender, Gabriel Bassan, waged an unsuccessful four-year fight to bar the DNA findings that led to the murder charge -- the only material evidence in the district attorney's case.

Davis was tried and convicted in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. But in a ruling that did not become final until 2013, a state appeals court overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial, in part on technical grounds and in part because of jury misconduct.

Adams, who was Martz's boyfriend and business partner, thanked police, prosecutors and jurors "who have waded through this muck twice to reach some semblance of justice."

He called on Davis, whose defense suggested his sex with Martz was consensual and that some unknown attacker killed her, to "take advantage of the time ahead -- go back 30 years and meditate" on his violence.

"John, you will never find peace until you admit to your crimes," Adams said.

Bassan, who was appointed to represent Davis for the retrial, read a statement on behalf of his client. First, Davis thanked the court staff for its courtesy during the proceedings.

"As to the family of Ms. Martz, he hopes the Lord will be kind and merciful to them," Bassan said. "... If this conviction eases their pain, then it will have served some purpose."

Davis, through Bassan, expressed confidence he "will be blessed by Allah in the next life."

Bassan, who withdrew as Davis' attorney at the end of Tuesday's hearing, has filed a notice of appeal in the case. That's largely a formality designed to make it possible to contest the verdict should grounds for a challenge emerge in the trial record.