Fremont man, 93, remains jailed for now in wife’s killing

DUBLIN — Richard Hocking, the 93-year-old Fremont man accused of killing his 86-year-old wife at a local strip mall, made a brief court appearance Wednesday morning, showing his face in public for the first time since he was charged with murder.

Hocking stayed in the threshold of a Dublin courtroom Wednesday morning, waiving formal reading of the charges and putting over an entering of a plea until next Monday. He is being represented by a public defender who told Judge Kevin Wong that the defense wasn’t planning to argue for Hocking’s release “for now,” opening the possibility that a bail hearing could be on the horizon.

The entire court hearing lasted about two minutes. At the end, as Hocking was being escorted back to jail, a family member from the courtroom gallery waved at him.

Richard Hocking is charged with fatally shooting his wife of 60 years, Patricia “Patty” Hocking, then calling police and immediately confessing. Family members and court records have said Richard was serving as Patty’s caretaker as she struggled with diabetes and chronic pain. A mugshot of Richard Hocking, released Tuesday evening, shows him staring directly into the camera, his mouth partway open, with long white hair and a shaggy beard.

He is being held without bail, facing charges of premeditated murder with a gun enhancement, enough to send him to prison for a sentence of 50 years to life. During his arrest, he told investigators that his wife had been struggling with health issues and killing her was “necessary,” according to a police affidavit filed in court records.

Hocking allegedly shot his wife a little after midnight last Saturday. The affidavit says Hocking confessed to having planned the homicide for about a month and that they left the house that day both knowing what would take place.

Hocking has no criminal history. Police say they recovered the suspected murder weapon from the couple’s vehicle.

Family members told this news organization that Richard Hocking worked as a commercial truck driver whose passions were racing cars, swimming, welding and later attending the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. Patty Hocking who loved working with kids, served as a local preschool teacher for several years before retiring, and was known to keep a busy schedule. She was part of the “Flirty Floozies,” a Fremont chapter of the Red Hat Society, a social group for women 50 years and older, and regularly held gatherings at the house with friends.

Richard Hocking’s son, Rick J. Hocking — a professional motorcycle racer known as “The King of Fremont” — died in 2011 at the age of 58.