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Man gets life for 2013 murder of Tahoe gas station attendant

Staff Report

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — A man convicted of murdering a gas station attendant at Lake Tahoe in 2013 was sentenced this week to life in prison.

Sean Donohoe

Sean Thomas Donohoe was handed the 50-years-to-life sentence on Wednesday for the cold-blooded killing of Manpreet Singh by Judge Suzanne Kingsbury in South Lake Tahoe Superior Court.

Singh’s family was not able to travel from India to face their son’s killer, but they did provide a powerful impact statement where they described that the murder of their son resulted in their lives being over, said a news release from the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office.



Singh immigrated to Lake Tahoe for a better life for he and his family and, at 27, his life was taken for no reason at all.

Kingsbury spoke about the overflowing effect of this homicide; how Singh’s family will never experience the joys of watching him grow up, have babies, have a career, and, for them, this horrific murder has forever changed their lives for the worse.



District Attorney Vern Pierson and Deputy District Attorney Kassie Cardullo argued for the maximum sentence of 50 years to life.

South Lake Tahoe Police detectives and FBI agents filled the audience, as they worked alongside the District Attorney’s Office to achieve justice for Singh.

“There is no sentence that will bring Manpreet back or heal the wounds created by Mr. Donohoe when he decided to take Manpreet’s life,” said a DA’s Office statement. “But we are hopeful that his conviction and life sentence will bring at least some peace to his family and the community.”

Singh, while working at the US Gasoline Station on Lake Tahoe Boulevard was shot and killed on Aug. 6.

Manpreet Singh

Donohoe was wearing a mask and all-black at the time of the murder, and walked out of the gas station without being stopped, the Tribune previously reported. The case went cold until 2020 when a tip led police to Donohoe, who was in Las Vegas at the time.

The Cold Case Task Force, which was a collaboration between the DA’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, Department of Justice, Bureau of Forensic Science and Federal Bureau of Investigation, traveled to Vegas to interview involved parties.

The DOJ and Bureau of Forensic Science matched DNA evidence found at the scene to Donohoe.

On May 12, 2020, with the help of the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Donohoe was arrested.

Donohoe was found guilty by a South Lake Tahoe jury for murder with use of a firearm.


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