Defendant appears in burning murder
of homeless woman

By Brent Begin, Bay City News Service

February 23, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - One of two defendants charged in the brutal immolation of a homeless woman from San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood appeared in San Francisco Superior Court yesterday in front of her family and friends.

Mia Sagote, 30, nodded to her supporters and faced the judge as attorneys set out a schedule and procedure for pretrial motions. Leslie Siliga, 29, is also charged in the murder but did not appear.

The two women are accused of kidnapping and murdering 49-year-old Leslie Jill May because she reported Sagote for robbing her the day before her murder, according to Assistant District Attorney Harry Dorfman.

Dorfman said Sagote dragged May behind a Dumpster and stripped her naked, all over a $150 drug debt. The next day, Jan. 12, May was dragged into a car by two women and never seen alive again. Later that day, police found May's charred remains in the parking lot of Monster Park.

May spent a lot of time in the Tenderloin neighborhood and had several friends in the area.

"A lot of people are upset about what happened to her, not just the police and the district attorney's office," Dorfman said.

Dorfman said there are several witnesses to the abduction of May and police and the district attorney's office are doing everything they can to protect them.

"If we think a witness is at risk we will encourage them to relocate to the witness protection program," Dorfman said. "I have concerns about the safety of these witnesses based on the actions of the people who are close to (Sagote)."

Both defendants are expected to appear together in court on March 9, in Department 11.

Sagote's family did not comment outside of court.

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