50-years-to-life sentence in cold case gas station murder in South Lake Tahoe

More than eight years after a 27-year-old clerk was executed at a South Lake Tahoe gas station, the man convicted in his murder was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years to life in prison, El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson said.

The sentencing of Sean Donohoe comes six weeks after he was found guilty by a jury in El Dorado Superior Court of the Aug. 6, 2013, slaying of Manpreet Singh, who was working alone inside the gas station when a gunman dressed in black with a black mask confronted him.

“There is no sentence that will bring Manpreet back or heal the wounds created by Mr. Donohoe when he decided to take Manpreet’s life,” Pierson’s office said in a statement. “But, we are hopeful that his conviction and life sentence will bring at least some peace to his family and the community.”

Prosecutors say Sean Donohoe walked into the US Gas Station after Singh had refused to sell alcohol earlier to a friend of Donohoe’s who was drunk.

“Once inside, Mr. Donohoe shot Mr. Singh one time,” Pierson’s office said in a Facebook post. “Unfortunately, the bullet penetrated both of Mr. Singh’s lungs and his heart, killing him moments later. Mr. Donohoe left the gas station before Mr. Singh’s body even hit the ground and then calmly fled the scene.”

No suspects were identified until the DA’s office posted a video re-enactment of the slaying in 2017 and the ex-girlfriend of a Donohoe roommate saw the video and called authorities in 2020 with a tip, Pierson said.

Donohoe lived in the Tahoe area at the time of the murder and later moved, eventually being arrested in Las Vegas in 2020.

After receiving the tip, authorities obtained Donohoe’s DNA surreptitiously and matched it to that on the black mask that had been left behind blocks from the gas station.

This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 12:24 PM.