Santa Maria Woman Who Murdered Roommate, Disposed of Dismembered Body at Nipomo Golf Course Sentenced to 35 Years to Life

Four years after being charged with murdering her roommate and disposing of his dismembered body at a golf course in northern Santa Barbara County, 39-year-old Santa Maria resident Kimberly Lynn Machleit was sentenced on Wednesday to 35 years to life in state prison after a jury found her guilty of first-degree murder, the District Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday.

Sentencing came after a lengthy legal battle and six years after Machleit and her boyfriend, Donald Anderson, murdered their roommate, Joseph Govey, in their apartment at 2291 Professional Parkway in Santa Maria. Govey’s dismembered remains were found in the reeds at a water hazard at Blacklake Golf Resort in Nipomo on September 21, 2020, two years after he had gone missing. According to the details of the case, Machleit shot and killed Govey with a shotgun in their kitchen after an altercation on December 3, 2018. 

Machleit and Anderson dismembered Govey’s body, cleaned up the crime scene, and disposed of his body at Blacklake Golf Resort, where another man charged in the case, Benjamin Mersai, 37, worked as a bartender in 2016. Mersai was charged in 2020 with murder and accessory charges and pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to three years in state penitentiary. Mersai was released on parole in mid-December on time served.

Govey was first reported missing by his family to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in August 2019, nearly 10 months after he was killed by Machleit. It was reported by the O.C. Weekly in 2018 that Govey was once a member of a white-power organization called Public Enemy Number One Death Squad and was “the target of snitches and cops.”

Anderson and Machleit were arrested in 2020 in connection to the murder of Govey. Now after four years, Machleit, who had pleaded not guilty, will face 10 years plus 25 years to life in state prison after being convicted of first-degree murder and a special allegation of personally discharging a firearm causing death.

Anderson had previously pleaded guilty to related charges and will be held in state prison on a sentence of 10 years and 8 months.

A statement from the District Attorney’s Office released on February 8 thanked the Sheriff’s personnel, led by Detective Justin DiPinto, for their work on the investigation.