Rape, murder suspect may have killed himself

A Canadian man wanted on suspicion of a 1984 Huntington Beach murder appears to have committed suicide after a judge upheld his extradition to Orange County, officials said Friday.

Gerald Su Go, 53, formerly of Torrance, has been locked in an extradition battle while in Canada since 2007, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Go was pronounced dead May 13. His death is still under investigation by Canadian officials, but appears to be suicide, officials said.

Go allegedly broke into Huntington Beach resident Elizabeth Hoffschneider’s apartment to rape her before strangling her to death Nov. 14, 1984.

The Huntington Beach Police Department investigated the case, but hit a dead end and didn’t make a breakthrough until it reopened the case in 2007.

Go was convicted and sentenced for a separate sexual assault case, adding his DNA to the national database in 2005.

He served his sentence for the case and was then deported to Canada in October 2007 — six days before Huntington Beach police got a match with Go’s DNA on Hoffschneider’s case.

Since the discovery, he has been held by Canadian authorities while Go fought extradition in the courts.

May 13, Canada’s Supreme Court upheld his extradition.

Go would have been back in Orange County in two weeks and would have been charged with one felony count of murder with enhancements for rape, robbery and burglary, according to court records.

He would have faced a life sentence without the possibility of parole if convicted.

— Britney Barnes