Then the district attorney gave up on the case, citing unspecified problems with witnesses. Wehrer walked out of court a free man after pleading guilty only to burglary and being put on probation.

Wehrer, 27, shot and killed himself Aug. 1, when San Francisco police caught up to him again, this time for the killing of his partner, Robert "Bobby" Christopher, 56, whose body was found four days earlier in their Castro Street apartment.

Prosecutors with District Attorney Kamala Harris' office say problems with the earlier case against Wehrer left them helpless to keep him behind bars.

Wehrer, the owner of a tree-trimming business, was arrested and charged with an April 7 incident at a home on 18th Avenue in the Sunset.

The resident, Rickey Belmont, told police that a group of men wearing ski masks had smashed his window as he slept and that one of them had choked him. He feigned unconsciousness, he said, and the men fled.

"He thought he was going to be killed," Inspector Jim Garrity, who handled the police investigation, testified.

Belmont told police he thought the suspects were gardeners whom he had considered for work at his house but ultimately had rejected. One of the hopefuls, he said, had been named David.

Even Garrity testified that "the whole incident seemed slightly odd, peculiar. I wanted to know, 'What's going on?' "

But a neighbor backed up at least the break-in portion of Belmont's story, telling police that he had seen masked men fleeing from the house that night and that some had gotten into a GMC pickup. Police also saw that a rear window at Belmont's house had been smashed and found an ax they believed had been used to break it.

Gun in glove box

Officers soon stopped a GMC pickup with a tree-trimming service logo and found masks, gloves and a rope. In the glove box was a revolver, police said.

Police arrested the driver and later arrested Wehrer, who owned both the pickup and the tree-trimming business.

Wehrer said he had indeed talked to Belmont about possible tree-trimming work, but he said Belmont appeared to have mental problems. After their initial contact, he said, Belmont accused him of stealing jewelry, only to apologize later when he found the missing items in his home.

Belmont could not be reached for comment for this story.

D.A. cuts deal

After a preliminary hearing in May, Wehrer was ordered to stand trial on felony charges of assault and burglary. Within a month, however, prosecutors walked away from the case, allowing Wehrer to plead guilty to burglary and leave jail with credit for 58 days served. He was put on probation for three years.

Harris' office said the case collapsed because of witness issues. "We believe that the negotiated plea agreement resulted in the best possible outcome given evidentiary problems revealed during the preliminary hearing," Harris' spokeswoman said in a statement.

"This included an incomplete account of the relationship between all the parties involved in the case," the district attorney said.

Harris' office would not spell out what the evidentiary problems were, however, and a review of the preliminary hearing transcript does little to resolve the questions.

Offer to 'party'

Belmont did not testify during the hearing, but two police officers who interviewed him did. They said Belmont had said he talked with Wehrer a month before the break-in about tree-trimming work, but had refused to give him the job after Wehrer suggested that they "party" and use drugs together.

Additionally, Probation Department officials told Harris' office they opposed granting probation to Wehrer. "This is a very serious offense, and by statute, the defendant is ineligible for being placed on probation," the officials said in a report.

Wehrer's attorney, Jonah Chew, said he was still bound by attorney-client privilege. But he did say, "It was a bizarre case - there was a lot more to it. My understanding (is) that the complaining witness was pretty incoherent when they tried to talk to him."

Brutal killing

On July 28, Wehrer's partner, Christopher, was found bludgeoned and stabbed in the back in the apartment the men shared on Castro Street.

A former lover of Christopher's described the men as drug addicts who thought they could help each other get clean, but instead "constantly" used crack and heroin together.

Police soon called Wehrer a person of interest in Christopher's slaying and a suspect in an attempted bank robbery and carjacking the same day in the West Portal neighborhood.

About 8:15 p.m. Aug. 1, as police approached a station wagon at McAllister and Baker streets, Wehrer shot and killed himself in the backseat.

"He is the only suspect," Inspector Dan Everson said of Wehrer's involvement in Christopher's death. Police are awaiting the results of DNA tests before officially declaring the case solved.

E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle