Oceano man slit wife’s throat in front of child

November 20, 2015

A 27-year-old Oceano man slit his wife’s throat while she was sleeping in a bed with the couple’s 3-year-old son, according to court testimony. [Tribune]

Humberto Jacobo Chavez killed his wife, Patricia Jacobo, 26, at their Oceano home on the night of August 16. Chavez then slit his own throat, but his suicide attempt failed, investigators say.

Chavez slit Jacobo’s throat less than two hours after she sent a text message to a friend saying, “I’m scared he’ll come upstairs and kill me. LOL.”

“If I don’t text you back, call the police,” Jacobo wrote.

Her friend’s final response was, “You’re probably asleep.”

On Thursday, prosecution witnesses testified in a preliminary hearing in the murder case against Chavez. During the hearing, sheriff’s investigators described what happened on the night of the killing.

After returning home from a party, Jacobo told Chavez she did not want to live with him anymore. Jacobo demanded that Chavez leave the room, according to testimony.

Chavez went to a couch downstairs where his 5-year-old son told him Jacobo had danced with another man at the party earlier that evening.

The husband and wife then exchanged text messages, after which Chavez drank two 24-ounce beers and grabbed a recently sharpened knife from his car. Chavez had used the knife as a field worker for Byrd Produce in Guadalupe.

Chavez walked upstairs to the bed where his wife and 3-year-old son were sleeping. He slid his right arm under his wife’s head and asked “How could you do this to me?” Then he slit her throat.

Jacobo flailed and fell off the bed. The 3-year-old rushed into the room of his aunt, who also lived in the house, and said, “Daddy killed mama.”

Chavez then slit his own throat and hugged his wife before collapsing and losing consciousness. Jacobo bled to death, but Chavez survived his injuries.

When sheriff’s deputies arrived at the home, the 3-year-old appeared in bloodied pajamas.

In 2010, Chavez allegedly had an affair, which prompted his wife to kick him out of the house. Chavez moved to Mexico briefly, but was later allowed to move back in the Ocean home for the sake of the family.

At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, Judge John Trice ruled there is enough evidence to pursue a charge of premeditated murder against Chavez.