On November 22, 2022, Jennifer Besser, Matthew Chachere and their dog Buddy were struck and killed by a vehicle speeding 60 miles per hour down Sacramento Drive in San Luis Obispo.
The driver, Daniel Saliganpatricio, was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison, but now he faces early release.
“The whole story of Matt and Jen and Buddy, it's so obscene and absurd that, how could this actually happen?" said Matthew's sister, Nicole Chachere.
At the time of the collision, responding police officers didn’t realize Saliganpatricio had hit anyone. The couple’s bodies were found under heavy brush two days later, after family members reported them missing.
“These are our kids, and yet they act like this is not something that we should have input into," said Jennifer's mother, Pati Blevins.
Even after Saliganpatricio was sentenced back in February of 2024, the families of Besser and Chachere did not feel there was closure. Now, the families, who spoke with KSBY news over Zoom, explained that not only is he eligible for serving just half of his sentence, but that he’s being released next month.
“What we went through as a family, what they put us through, was criminal," said Matthew's mother, Linda Chachere.
“I guess, maybe naively, I thought the whole thing of justice is blind... I am now totally changed,” said Matthew's father, Ernest Chachere.
Both Linda and Ernest sent a letter to State Attorney General Rob Bonta, explaining different facets of the case that left them feeling helpless. In the letter, they stated, "Our family experienced firsthand at each stage of the process inconsistencies, inefficiencies, poor standards of performance by key individuals with the responsibility to execute the law and more importantly deliver justice and accountability for those convicted of a crime."
Saliganpatricio’s attorney, Ilan Funke-Bilu, told KSBY that inmates in federal prison can receive credits to reduce their sentence as part of an effort to lower prison populations across the state. Funke-Bilu added that his client “is not one to gloat over early release, when he’s responsible for doing something as serious as he admitted to doing… he’s doing whatever he has to do to pay for what he did.”
While the families remain shocked by the early release and how the case was originally handled, they know that what’s done is done for them, but hopefully, they can make people more aware of their experience and how it pertains to victims of crime.
“[In California], the criminal has more rights than what the victims do. They get protected way too much," Linda Chachere said.
Saliganpatricio is set to be placed on parole in December of this year.
“As a parent, if my son had killed two people knowing that two other mothers were suffering, I would have been compelled to go to them and say, 'I'm sorry,'" Blevins said.
Aside from the sentencing, at which Saliganpatricio read a written apology, Blevins and the Chachere family said they received no apology. A memorial at the site of the crash is still up and can be visited.
