Castro Valley: Witness-turned-murder-defendant released from jail in latest twist during contentious case

Washonna Whittle, 35, was charged with murder last month in the death of Benjamin Hemmann, but ended up spending less than a month in jail before her release.

OAKLAND — A California woman has been released from jail less than a month after prosecutors charged her with murder in the gruesome 2021 death of a San Leandro man, the latest twist in a case against four people that largely hangs on her word.

Mashonna Whittle, 35, was originally viewed by police and prosecutors as a witness in the death of 37-year-old Benjamin Hemmann, whose gagged and bound body was discovered along a Castro Valley roadway in September 2021. Whittle gave statements to police implicating her husband and two other men, then attempted to retract them, refused to testify at the preliminary hearing, and told her husband she wouldn’t take the stand during trial, according to police.

Now, Whittle stands alongside three co-defendants — her husband, Kevin Woodruff, a friend named Brian Wu, and a third person, Steve Hanna, aka Richardo Onteveros — all facing charges of murdering Hemmann during a robbery. Hanna is accused of personally killing Hemmann by strangling him with a dog leash, and allegedly made a bone-chillingly casual confession after police in Solano County arrested him on suspicion of leading officers on a wild car chase.

Whittle’s lawyer successfully argued for her release from jail after he arrest on murder charges last month, writing in a motion that she suffers from PTSD and anxiety disorders and must care for a young child with similar issues. The lawyer, Adam Pennella, added that the sudden decision to charge Whittle just days before Hanna, Wu, and Woodruff were to stand trial should be viewed by the judge as suspicious.

“It is hard to deny the obvious perception that these charges were filed to coerce her cooperation,” Pennella wrote.

Whittle will be on a GPS monitor and required to stay at home most of the time during her release, according to court records. Also, Hanna’s case has been severed from the other three, meaning that if nothing changes they’ll be tried separately from him.

Hemmann was beaten, robbed, strangled, and left for dead after the group allegedly kidnapped him and drove him around the East Bay. Whittle’s role in the case, according to police, was limited to riding in the vehicle with Woodruff and Wu and texting a woman live updates as to what was going on. She claimed she was asleep in the car and that she woke up to find Hemmann in distress, begging for his life, as the others mocked him before handing him off to Hanna at a pre-arranged meet-up.

Whittle allegedly told police about the incident, adding that she didn’t see exactly what happened to Hanna but that she had “great hearing” that allowed her to know what was going on. Since then, she has tried to recant her statement by blaming mental health issues — though police say what she told them is verified by texts, physical evidence, and phone records — and by flat-out refusing to be sworn in as a witness during the preliminary hearing last May.

In October, as Hanna, Wu, and Woodruff prepared for trial, police say they listened to conversations between Whittle and Woodruff that were recorded by Santa Rita Jail staff, where Whittle says she won’t testify.

As Alameda County Sheriff’s investigators searched for her in preparation for the trial, they found her Irvine apartment had been abandoned. When they called her number, a woman identified herself as “Patricia” and claimed no knowledge of Whittle’s whereabouts, though police believe that person was really Whittle’s close relative.

It was after all this that Alameda County prosecutors opted to charge her with murder, which the other three defense attorneys lambasted as a “dirty move” intended to coerce her.