Man behind attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband convicted in court

A state court in California convicted the attacker of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband on five charges a month after he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

On Friday, the jury found David DePape, 44, guilty of first-degree burglary, false imprisonment, threatening a family member of a public official, aggravated kidnapping and preventing or dissuading a witness by force or threat. He is facing a life sentence without the possibility of parole, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said at a news conference Friday. A hearing hasn’t been set.

DePape already faces a 30-year sentence from his conviction in November in connection with the Oct. 28, 2022, attack of Paul Pelosi.

In San Francisco, Judge Harry M. Dorfman dismissed three of the charges DePape was facing: attempted murder, assault of an elder and assault with a deadly weapon, because DePape’s defense team argued that would amount to double jeopardy.

DePape broke into the Pelosis’ Pacific Heights home because he became convinced Nancy Pelosi was part of an evil cabal of liberals who were ruining the country.

He was able to strike Paul Pelosi three times with the hammer before he was tackled by police. The attack was captured on the officers’ body-worn cameras.

DePape testified in his own defense at the trial, telling the jury that he had been looking for Nancy Pelosi and her husband was not on his list of targets. He was “surprised and confused,” he said, when he found out she was not home.

“I’m telling him, ‘I have other targets, but if you stop me, I’ll go through you,'” DePape said, recounting a conversation with Paul Pelosi.

“I reacted. I hit him in the head,” he continued, “I reacted because my plan was basically ruined.”

His defense attorney is planning to appeal the verdict.

“He’s lived a very isolated and lonely life when he kind of just got wrapped up in a lot of conspiracy theory-type situations,” defense attorney Adam Lipson said. “And, you know, he has some mental illness too, so he’s just dealing with that right now.”

“It’s really unfortunate he was charged this way. It was sort of a textbook vindictive prosecution.”

Phoebe Maffei, an assistant district attorney in San Francisco, argued in court that DePape had engaged in months of elaborate research before attempting to kill Paul Pelosi in a “reign of terror.”

She said DePape had bashed Pelosi’s skull with a hammer and had damaged Pelosi’s left hand so severely that it cannot fully be used.

Aaron Bennett, a spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi, said in a statement Friday that the family is “grateful for the kind thoughts and prayers they continue to receive,” adding, “Speaker Pelosi and her family will refrain from further substantive comment until sentencing is complete.”