Murder Attempt Antidepressant 17/11/2004 California Man Stabs Parents & Sister
Summary:
Paragraphs 16 & 17 read: ""He's not a violent guy, so I don't know why he would do that," he said.
"The cousin said Estanque had been seeing a therapist and taking anti-depressant medication for six months to one year."
http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~2540322,00.html
Three stabbed in Union City home
Son booked for allegedly stabbing family members
with a butcher knife
By Ben Aguirre Jr., STAFF WRITER
UNION CITY -- A 20-year-old man, whom a relative described as being depressed, was arrested Tuesday after his mother, father and older sister were stabbed with a butcher knife during an early morning attack.
Jeffrey Estanque was booked into Santa Rita county jail in Dublin on suspicion of three counts of attempted murder and is expected to be arraigned later this week, police Lt. Kelly Musgrove said.
The victims, Janice Estanque, 22, Lorna Estanque, 51, and Efren Estanque, 52, each suffered multiple stab wounds to their torsos and were taken by ambulance to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley with potentially life-threatening wounds, Musgrove said.
The mother and father were transported to Kaiser Hospital in Fremont, while Estanque's sister remained at Eden on Tuesday evening, Musgrove said. All three were expected to survive, he added.
About 2 a.m., police were dispatched to Delores Drive and Christine Court, near Union City Boulevard in the Alvarado district, where a woman was reported to be screaming and bleeding profusely, Musgrove said.
When police arrived, they found Estanque and his father struggling on the family's front porch.
"He was trying to stab his father again," Musgrove said.
Officers then used a Taser, which they began carrying two weeks ago, to subdue the man, Musgrove said. If officers didn't have Tasers, he added, they could have used lethal force.
"The officers had a choice, and they chose non-lethal," Musgrove said.
The female victims, meanwhile, ran from the home before police arrived and were found in front of two nearby houses, leaving a trail of blood in the street and pools of blood wherever they stopped, police said.
Neighbor Jocelyn Recile, who lives at the corner home where Estanque's sister was found, said she woke at 5 a.m. and found her front step covered in blood.
"I felt sorry when I learned from the police," she said. "You know, we didn't do anything because we didn't hear anything."
Recile said she didn't know the Estanque family well, but knew that Jeffrey Estanque played basketball with her children and that his mother would greet her when they passed on the street.
"The mother is very nice," she said.
A man leaving Estanque's house, who identified himself only as a cousin, said he was surprised by his relative's actions.
"He's not a violent guy, so I don't know why he would do that," he said.
The cousin said Estanque had been seeing a therapist and taking anti-depressant medication for six months to one year.
A next-door neighbor said he heard a man and woman screaming loudly about 2 a.m. Tuesday.
"I heard the man yelling, 'Mommy, help me. I'm dying,'" he said.
The neighbor stayed indoors until the police arrived. When he looked out, he saw two bloodied men inside the front gate at the Estanque home.
"It's pretty scary. I've never seen them as a problem family. They are very quiet," he said.
Police do not know why the stabbings occurred, but said the telephone lines inside the home had been cut and that authorities had responded to the home three times since August for disturbance calls, Musgrove said.
During questioning, Estanque said he stabbed his relatives, Musgrove said.
Staff writer Ben Aguirre Jr. covers police and the courts for The Argus. He can be reached at (510) 353-7011 or baguirre@angnewspapers.com .
Staff writer Grace Rauh contributed to this report.