David Misch is a California man serving life terms for killings in two Alameda County cities. A jury convicted him in December 2024 of the first-degree murders of Michelle Xavier and Jennifer Duey, who died in Fremont in February 1986. He was already in prison for the killing of Margaret Ball in unincorporated Hayward in December 1989. He is also charged with murder in the November 1988 case of a nine-year-old girl in Hayward, Michaela Garecht. That charge has not gone to a verdict, and he is presumed innocent of it.
His early life is not on record. He was 63 at his sentencing in January 2025, which places his birth around 1961. Police said he lived in the area in 1986 and was a known commercial burglar. Michelle and Jennifer had no known history or contact with him.
Margaret Ball, 36, died in unincorporated Hayward in December 1989. Misch was convicted of her killing. He was serving 18 years to life for a 1989 homicide in Alameda County when the Fremont charges were filed in 2018, and he has been in prison for murder since 1990, with a life sentence that allows parole. The court that tried him, the exact charge wording at that trial and the date of the verdict are not on record.
Michelle Xavier was 18 and Jennifer Duey was 20. They were best friends. They died in Fremont on February 2, 1986, and the case went unsolved for decades.
Fremont police created a cold case position in 2016, and a detective reopened the case. DNA evidence led police to name Misch as the main suspect. Charges were filed on a Friday in March 2018 and announced by police the following Monday, March 5. Misch, then 57, was in state prison at the time. He faced two counts of murder with five special circumstances allegations. He pleaded not guilty.
In January 2023, after a preliminary hearing, Judge Paul Delucchi ruled that there was enough evidence to send both the Fremont case and the Hayward case of 1988 to trial. A hearing was set for May 19, 2023, on whether to try the two cases together. The court later decided to try them separately, with the Fremont case first.
Trial opened in Alameda County Superior Court in Dublin on Monday, October 21, 2024. On December 19, 2024, the jury found Misch guilty on two counts of first-degree murder, one for each woman. Prosecutors announced the verdict on December 20. Deputy District Attorney Allyson Donovan and annuitant Deputy District Attorney Mark Melton prosecuted.
On Tuesday, January 21, 2025, Misch was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 25 years to life, a total of 50 years to life, to be served after his existing 18-years-to-life term. He was 63. Relatives of the two women gave victim impact statements. Misch was removed from the courtroom after he disrupted the proceeding by singing during their statements. Chief Assistant District Attorney Royl Roberts announced the outcome.
The case of nine-year-old Michaela Garecht dates from November 19, 1988, in Hayward. On December 21, 2020, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley announced that Misch, then 59, was charged with her murder, with two special circumstances: murder during a kidnapping, and a previous murder conviction. The District Attorney said he could face a death sentence if convicted. Arraignment was postponed to January 22. Misch pleaded not guilty. In January 2023 Judge Delucchi found sufficient evidence for trial, and the court ordered the case tried after the Fremont case. He has not been tried. At his January 2025 sentencing he was still awaiting trial, and no trial date had been set. This is a charge only, not a conviction.
Misch is convicted of three killings in two separate events and charged with a fourth in a third. The 1988 Hayward charge is unproven. His convictions are for Ball, Xavier and Duey only. No further charge has been announced.
February 2, 1986: Michelle Xavier and Jennifer Duey die in Fremont.
November 19, 1988: the Michaela Garecht case, Hayward.
December 1989: Margaret Ball dies in unincorporated Hayward; Misch is convicted of her murder (1990).
2016: Fremont police assign a detective to cold cases and reexamine the 1986 case.
March 2018: Misch is charged in Fremont with two counts of murder and five special circumstances.
December 21, 2020: Misch is charged with murder with two special circumstances in the 1988 Hayward case.
January 2023: Judge Paul Delucchi finds enough evidence for both cases to go to trial.
October 21, 2024: Fremont trial opens in Dublin.
December 19, 2024: Guilty verdict on two counts of first-degree murder.
January 21, 2025: Sentence of 50 years to life, consecutive to the earlier term.