 | Orange County District Attorney |
Tony Rackauckas, District Attorney
401 Civic Center Drive West
Santa Ana, CA 92701
| For Immediate Release November 30, 2006 | Contact: | Susan Schroeder |
SON FOUND GUILTY OF MURDERING HIS MOTHER BY STABBING HER WITH A MEAT CLEAVER
SANTA ANA – A Santa Ana man was found guilty today of murdering his mother, Teresa Marrufo, by stabbing her to death with a meat cleaver. William Jesus Marrufo, 35, was convicted of first degree murder with an enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. He faces 26 years to life in prison. Marrufo entered a plea of “not guilty by reason of insanity,” and the sanity phase is scheduled to begin Monday, December 4, 2006 at 9:15 a.m. in Department C-30, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
On January 5, 2005, Marrufo became angry with his mother while she was driving him home from his sister’s residence. When they arrived at the house, Marrufo severely beat his mother’s head against the pavement in the driveway outside of the home and then went into the house and retrieved two meat cleavers and a boning knife. He went back outside and murdered his mother by slashing and stabbing her to death.
As Marrufo entered a plea of “not guilty by reason of insanity,” the trial will be held in two phases, the guilt phase and the sanity phase. As he has been found guilty of murder, a jury will now consider evidence to determine if he was legally sane at the time of the crime. When a defendant pleads “not guilty by reason of insanity,” the burden is on the defense to prove that the defendant was more likely than not legally insane when he committed the crime. To be considered legally insane, the defense must prove that the defendant had a mental disease or defect when he committed the crime, and also that this defect kept the defendant from understanding the nature of his act or from understanding that his act was morally or legally wrong.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Margaret Roper of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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