The suspect accused of violently attacking Paul Pelosi, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, previously lived with a "nudist" who now describes him as "mentally ill."
David DePape, 42, faces multiple felony charges after he allegedly broke into the Pelosi's residence in San Francisco on Oct. 28 and beat Paul Pelosi with a hammer, resulting in injuries which forced the house speaker's husband to undergo surgery repair a skull fracture in addition to other injuries.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced the charges, which include attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse, among others, during a press conference on Monday.
DePape broke into the Pelosi's residence through a glass door in the rear of the house and entered the bedroom where Paul Pelosi was sleeping, according to Jenkins. When Paul Pelosi attempted to dial 911 in the couple's in-home elevator, Jenkins said that DePape blocked him from doing so. Paul Pelosi was able to escape to a bathroom in the house and dial 911.
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Police said that when officers arrived, they observed Paul Pelosi and DePape struggling over a hammer. When the police officers gave an order for both men to drop the hammer, DePape began attacking Paul Pelosi, according to police.
DePape brought kidnapping supplies with him to the Pelosi's residence such as zip ties, as well as at least two hammers, according to Jenkins, who said the attack appears to be politically motivated.
The suspect allegedly demanded to talk to "Nancy" during the attack, referring to the House Speaker, according to an affidavit.
An LGBTQ flag with marijuana leaves was seen outside of Taub's home, where DePape previously lived, along with a heavily worn down van which displays a "natural addiction treatment" poster. A sign reading, "Berkeley stands united against hate" can also be seen displayed on a window.
A piece of paper reading, "News reporters go away" was also placed on a fence outside the house.
California State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, previously told Fox News Digital that DePape had ties to Gypsy Taub, a nudist activist in Berkeley.
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"She was the ringleader, and she was extremely aggressive and creepy," Wiener said. "And I think he was one of the people in her work."
"[DePape] was associated with this woman by the name of Gypsy Taub, who was like this very creepy person who, in addition to her activism around public nudity, she was a 9/11 denier," Weiner added.
Taub told ABC7 in a phone interview on Sunday that she is DePape's "ex-life partner," and described him as "mentally ill."
"He is mentally ill. He has been mentally ill for a long time," Taub said.
Taub is currently serving a prison sentence after being found guilty in the abduction of a 14-year-old boy which took place around a Berkeley high school.
DePape and Taub raised their two sons and daughter, she told the outlet, but split around seven years ago.
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Taub said that DePape once left home for a year only to return "in very bad shape."
"He came back in very bad shape. He thought he was Jesus. He was constantly paranoid, thinking people were after him," Taub said. "And it took a good year or two to get back to, you know, being halfway normal."
She said when they met around 20 years ago, DePape's politics were aligned with hers, which she describes as "very progressive."
"Well when I met him, he was only 20 years old ,and he didn't have any experience in politics, and he was very much in alignment with my views, and I've always been very progressive. I absolutely admire Nancy Pelosi," Taub said.
One neighbor to Taub's home told Fox News Digital that he could tell drugs were often taken into the home.
When FBI agents arrived at Taub's home on Friday afternoon, a young man said that DePape hasn't been at the residence in years.
An Immigrations and Customers Enforcement source told Fox News that DePape has been in the U.S. illegally after overstaying his visa by a "long time."
DePape also faces several federal charges in addition to the state-level charges. Jenkins said during the press conference that the federal charges could put him in prison for decades, with the state-level charges carrying a potential sentence of 13 years to life in prison.
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A federal affidavit filed on Monday stated that when law enforcement officials executed a search warrant on DePape's garage residence in Richmond, California, they found "two hammers, a sword, and a pair of rubber and cloth gloves."
Neighbors of DePape in Richmond said that DePape was very quiet and often kept to himself, adding that he was influenced by conservative media in recent years.
"He was an odd guy," Jim Molnar, one of DePape's neighbors, said, adding that DePape was "gravitating towards the new right talking points."
Molnar said that he believes DePape went to the Pelosi's with the "intention" to "traumatize" Nancy Pelosi.
The neighbor also said that he wasn't surprised when he heard of DePape's alleged actions.
"I also was, a little bit, saying, ‘Oh no’ to myself, because I more or less knew this would happen," Molnar said. "He didn't do anything violent or reckless, but that would be the perfect cover for buying his time until he had the chance to do something."
