A man who remained at large for seven years before he was arrested and convicted of fatally shooting a gas station clerk at Lake Tahoe in 2013 has been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.
Sean Thomas Donohue was sentenced to the maximum term in El Dorado County court for the fatal shooting of Manpreet Singh in South Lake Tahoe, California.
Manpreet was a recent immigrant from his native country of India.
The DA's office posted a video about the crime in 2017 in an effort to jump start the cold-case investigation.
It paid off with a tip that helped lead lead investigators to Donohoe in 2020.
UPDATE: May 2020
Authorities say they have arrested a man in connection with a cold case murder at a South Lake Tahoe gas station in August 2013.Â
Previously, the El Dorado District Attorney's Office released surveillance video in 2017 of Manpreet Singh's killing and asked the public for help.  Â
A witness watched that video and contacted investigators in the summer of 2019. Â
Authorities say the witness told investigators that 34-year-old Sean Donohoe was responsible for the murder. Donohoe is a current Las Vegas resident, and was a former resident of South Lake Tahoe in 2013.Â
The case was assigned to the El Dorado County Cold Case Task Force, which is a collaboration between the El Dorado County District Attorneys Office, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, California Department of Justice, Bureau of Forensic Science (BFS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).Â
South Lake Tahoe Police say Donohoe's DNA matched evidence at the crime scene. They say with the help of the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Donohoe was arrested for the alleged murder of Manpreet Singh on Tuesday, May 12, 2020.
If you have any additional information on this case, contact: Det. Herminghaus, SLTPD Jherminghaus@cityofslt.us 530-542-6133 or the Cold Case Task force at coldcasetaskforce@edcgov.us  530-621-4590.
ORIGINAL STORY: July 2017
The District Attorney in El Dorado County is releasing surveillance video, hoping to solve a cold case: a deadly shooting that happened in South Lake Tahoe in 2013.
A 27-year-old convenience store clerk named Manpreet Singh was shot and killed at the US Gas Station on August 6, 2013. El Dorado County DA Vern Pierson said they made the decision to release the video now, in 2017, in the hopes that someone long-silent will step forward with information.
"Knowing what I know today, we probably would have released the video much sooner, closer in time to [the shooting]," Pierson said, "but it was a judgment call at the time."
Surveillance cameras show a man in a hoodie walking into the convenience store just before 11pm. The man barely paused before shooting Singh, and then slowly walked out of the store without taking any money from the open cash drawer.
"It's clear he's not in a hurry," Pierson said. "In fact, I think you'd probably call him fairly nonchalant. It sure seems like the hallmarks of a professional execution."
A customer at the convenience store called 911, but police never found the shooter. The man's face is hidden in the video, but Pierson said they think he's a white man in his mid-20s. They are not sure about any possible motive.
Manpreet Singh was born in India, but immigrated to the United States in 2011. He had been working at the US Gas Station a little less than a year when he was shot and killed. Pierson said they're hoping that they can finally put the case to rest.
"Under the circumstances, it's impossible that there weren't multiple people that knew about this before or after," Pierson said, "and our hope is that somebody who knows something about it will come forward."
If you have any information about this case, contact the El Dorado County Cold Case Task Force at: (530) 621-4590.
