The intersection near which a woman was decapitated. (Photo Credit: Twitter user fm from me
@shmlamo)
Local authorities reported that a woman was decapitated by a sword in San Carlos, California on Thursday.
According to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect — who was later identified as Jose Landaeta Solano — was arrested in connection with the woman’s death after returning to the scene where the murder took place.
At approximately 11:50 AM, witnesses flagged down deputies in proximity to the Laurel Street and Magnolia Avenue intersection who reported an assault in progress. According to the sheriff’s office, deputies found the woman dead on site when they arrived.
LIVE VIDEO: A woman's head was severed with a sword in San Carlos, and a man was arrested in what was believed to be a case of domestic violence. @gingerconejero is live at 5:06 with the details. https://t.co/tzyrhStE9o
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) September 9, 2022
Lieutenant Eamonn Allen of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said that a “stabbing instrument” was used in the attack during a media brief but declined to give any more details than that.
Allen said:
“Anytime someone loses their life, it’s certainly a tragedy. As far as the shocking nature of it, I do know that the deputies that first arrived on scene were a little beset by the scene. We are providing them peer support. We are also providing support for the witnesses that were on scene as well because there were several civilian witnesses.”
Bay Area neighbor, Chapele Thorborne, was reported as saying, “It was kind of a shock, you know. This is a nice neighborhood. So, it’s a shock.” Thorborne knew the victim and the alleged murderer, according to the witness. Both moved into the neighborhood roughly three years ago.
Thorborne said that “they seemed like they loved each other.”
Solano, according to investigators, “has an extensive, violent criminal past and a history of mental illness.”
Allen added, “When our deputies responded to the scene and started to process the scene, it’s my understanding that he was contacted in the area, but he was not in the immediate scene.”
Eventually, after Solano was taken into custody, he was brough to a local hospital to be treated for what deputies described as “some kind of medical emergency.”
Allegedly, the victim — who has not yet been identified — has a restraining order against Solano.
This investigation is still ongoing and detectives are still on the hunt for the murder weapon that has been described as a samurai sword.
