SF Gay Man's Death Deemed 'Suspicious'

San Francisco officials are investigating the death of a gay Duboce Triangle man whose passing the medical examiner's office has deemed "suspicious."

Peter Huerta, 51, was found dead at 25 Sanchez Street, Apartment 322.

Officer Albie Esparza, a police spokesman, said the medical examiner's office ruled Huerta's death is suspicious because his T-shirt was torn and he was lying face down in his bed when a friend found him at 2:25 p.m. September 23.

"I don't think there were any obvious signs of trauma, like stabbing or shooting," he said.

Huerta's partner, who didn't live with him, had someone go to check on Huerta since he hadn't heard from him since September 19.

"It doesn't seem there was any forced entry," Esparza said. The door had been "locked from the inside," and a master key was used to get in.

"We don't know if it's a homicide case yet," he said, but the homicide unit "investigates all suspicious death cases until proven otherwise."

The medical examiner's office would only offer Huerta's name, age, and city of residence. It will likely be months before the agency determines whether Huerta's death was a homicide and how exactly he died.

There are security cameras throughout Huerta's building, which is operated by the San Francisco Housing Authority and intended for low-income seniors and people with disabilities.

Neighbors described Huerta as "nice" but indicated he may have had problems involving the company he kept.

Greg Baysek, who's in his 40s, said Huerta was "easy-going" and "trustworthy."

"If we were doing our laundry together, I could ask him to watch my laundry," Baysek said.

He last saw Huerta "almost a month ago," looking thin and "out of it." Huerta acknowledged using methamphetamine, Baysek said, "but he didn't want to get into a whole conversation about it."

Huerta would have visitors in "waves," usually men in their late 20s or 30s, Baysek said. He once warned Huerta about one of the men, who'd stand by Huerta's door when he wasn't there. He last saw the man six to nine months ago, when "he asked if I could get crystal meth," Baysek said.

"Peter sometimes would have guests over that would not come through the front door," he said. Instead, the visitors would enter through a door that would be left propped open. Baysek said people would often come at 3 or 4 a.m. (There's a small front desk just inside the building's locked front door, but nobody was stationed there when the Bay Area Reporter visited last weekend.)

Hazel Nielson, 75, a neighbor and friend of Huerta's, described him as "a very good gentleman" she liked to exchange gossip with.

Nielson said she last saw him "a few days" before his body was found. He'd been walking his dogs, a Chihuahua named Joey and a mutt called Chloe.

"I was just floored" to learn of his death, she said. "He seemed just fine."

She didn't have any idea what may have happened to him.

"I don't know anything that happens behind closed doors," Nielson said.

She also didn't know if Huerta had any trouble with drugs, but she offered some information similar to Baysek's.

"I knew he had company," she said of Huerta, describing his visitors as young men who were homeless and "dirty." Sometimes, they'd sleep outside Huerta's door when he wouldn't let them in, she said.

Whatever happened, Baysek said, "He'll be missed, and I hope he's in a better place."

Esparza wasn't able to share whether any drugs or drug paraphernalia were found in Huerta's apartment.

Rose Marie Dennis, a housing authority spokeswoman, said Huerta's building is "very secure."

"Our condolences go out to Mr. Huerta and his family and friends. ... We feel, certainly, very sad for the situation," Dennis said.