Pacifica Man Accused of Bludgeoning Friend to Death Found Competent to Stand Trial

By Bay City News Service:

A Pacifica man who allegedly used a knife and a hammer to fatally bludgeon his friend in October 2012 was found competent to stand trial Wednesday, San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Al Serrato said.

Marc Anthony Furlan, 25, was arrested after police responded to a disturbance call at the home he shared with his father and two tenants on Dell Road in Pacifica, according to court documents.

When police arrived, they found 24-year-old Keith Coffey unconscious on the ground in the front of the home around 5:15 a.m. Coffey was pronounced dead at the scene, with more than 50 visible wounds to his body, according to the district attorney's office.

At the time of the incident, police reported that preliminary investigation showed the two men were acquaintances and the death was the result of an altercation between the two.

Furlan allegedly tried to clean up the bloody crime scene and was attempting to dispose of the body when police arrived.

On March 20, 2013 the San Mateo County Criminal Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Furlan with murder by use of a dangerous or deadly weapon. He remains in the county jail on no bail status.

Coffey's murder was the first homicide in Pacifica in more than a decade, with the previous recorded homicide occurring in 2000.

Furlan's case was reinstated Wednesday and reset to June 5 for further date-setting proceedings, Serrato said.