Calif. couple charged with killing suspected "Noteman" bandit

BERKELEY, Calif. - Police said Wednesday that they have arrested and charged a couple in the killing of a man once suspected of being notorious criminal the "Noteman" bandit, who used polite notes to rob businesses in the Bay Area almost two decades ago, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Michael Diggs, 28, and Kneitawnye Sessoms, 40, killed 54-year-old Sylvan Fuselier in his Berkeley apartment in the San Francisco Bay Area. The pair reportedly used "several sharp instruments," including a hatchet, police Sgt. Peter Hong wrote in an affidavit. Police discovered Fuselier's body on Feb. 28 after receiving a call from a friend of the victim who was worried about not having seen him for several days, according to the paper.

According to the Chronicle, police said they had found evidence that Diggs, a convicted carjacker who reportedly worked in auto body repair, had been in the apartment. He was arrested March 12, and a search of his home uncovered an item that belonged to Fuselier, authorities said.

Alameda County prosecutors charged Diggs and Sessoms with murder and the special circumstances of murder in the course of a burglary and robbery. Diggs was also charged with an enhancement for allegedly using a hatchet to murder Fuselier.

The two suspects could face the death penalty or life in prison with no possibility of parole if convicted. Both are being held without bail.

According to the paper, Fuselier was arrested in 1996 on suspicion of pulling off at least 14 robberies in Berkeley and five in Oakland dating back to September 1994. The criminal -- who came to be known as the "Noteman" bandit -- robbed his victims without the aid of a gun, instead using concise demand notes to persuade local business clerks to fork over their cash.

The Chronicle reports that it is unclear how the 1996 case against Fuselier was resolved.