The 41-year-old was killed last Sunday. Her husband, 35-year-old Keith Beyer was arrested and charged with murder. Court documents allege he committed a number of sex related crimes around the same time as the murder.
At the vigil, Sandra Beyer's brother told Action News, "All we want to know is how could you, why, and how did you do it?"
Jose Garcia said, "My sister was one of the greatest people I knew, one of the strongest people I knew. So full of life, she was a character."
Garcia also said he didn't support his sister's marriage. "Everybody had bad thoughts about him, even his own family told us he's bad, tell your daughter to go away, tell your sister to go away."
A local pastor also spoke, as did the victim's friends. Elaine Franco described her friend as the type of person everyone wants to be around. "Her personality alone, it was someone you meet you like a magnet, cling to her she had that effect on people."
They also say they'll be following the court case. Hours before the vigil, Keith Beyer confessed in open court. He told the judge, "Your honor, I accept responsibility for my actions to the fullest extent."
Cathy Pinedo, Sandra Beyer's childhood friend said, "He needs to know he took a part of my heart when he did this selfish thing to her. He needs to know she was well loved by everybody."
Keith Beyer will be back in court to issue official pleas within the next few weeks.
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Sanger murder suspect shocks court with confession
By Sontaya Rose
Against the advice of his attorney and a judge, a man accused of murdering his wife shocks the court with a confession.
/*Keith Beyer*/ is charged with murdering his wife on Sunday and sexually abusing a young relative around the same time.
Sandra Beyer was found dead inside her Sanger home Sunday morning. Police arrested her husband on Monday for the crime. Officers say Keith Beyer surrendered to investigators near Shaver Lake.
Keith Beyer consulted with his attorney and was even cautioned by a judge about making any statement. Action News has learned his statement in court comes a day after he called Sandra's family from jail to say he didn't mean for things to end this way.
In his first court appearance since his arrest early this week on murder charges, Keith Beyer surprised the judge when he went against his attorney's advice and made a bold statement confessing to killing his wife.
"I took my wife's life, and I am accepting full responsibility of that but nothing less than the death penalty," Beyer said. "And as a member of the court, i expect you, being in the position that i'm in- to sentence me to that."
Outside court, his attorney said Beyer felt very compelled to speak even though he advised him to remain silent.
"It's surprising to hear someone say something like that," Scott Baly said. "This is a very recent event for him. Today is Thursday, this is something that happened last Sunday."
The criminal complaint against Beyer also lists disturbing sex charges with a child. According to court records, Beyer committed several sex acts with a young relative the day before and the day of Sandra Beyer's murder.
Keith Beyer's attorney is waiting to see the evidence against his client before he talks about those allegations. Even though no plea was entered in the murder, Beyer's words will be hard to take back.
Beyer said, "Your honor, I accept responsibility for my actions to the fullest extent."
According to his attorney, Beyer has been very emotional and dealing with many different feelings about what's happened.
Baly said, "I'm not sure I'd take it as an admission as much as I would take it as a statement of a very distraught person under difficult circumstances."
Beyer will enter official pleas in a few weeks.
Family members are planning a candlelight vigil for Sandra Beyer tonight, at the apartment where she was murdered.
