For nearly four years since three San Jacinto children were brutally killed, San Jacinto police Sgt. Fred Rodriguez has kept the "murder book" nearby.
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"As the court dates would come up, I would take it out and read it again and again," said Rodriguez. "I knew everything inside. I had it almost memorized. I wanted to be ready."
It was the case every investigator dreads: the murder of a child -- in this case three bright youngsters. To make matters worse, the killer was their mother, who slashed their throats, then blamed the killings on her then-estranged husband.
"It was the worst thing I had ever seen," said Rodriguez, recalling the locations where the bodies were found.
It was a case that haunted innumerable people who were part of it -- especially the attorneys and jurors. Supervising Deputy District Attorney Michael Soccio said it was one of the most difficult cases he ever prosecuted. Defense attorney David Macher said the case will stay with him for the rest of his life.
But perhaps the most affected was Rodriguez, who has lived with the case since its inception.
As head of the department's detective bureau, Rodriguez was in charge of the case. Two of his detectives were attending a course when it occurred, so it fell on Rodriguez to conduct most of the interviews. Police initially arrested Alex Buenrostro, then learned that his estranged wife, Dora, had committed the killings.
"I ordered them to arrest Alex," said Rodriguez, who has worked in San Jacinto for nine years. "It was something that I later apologized for. But it was based on the information we had at the time. I think he understood."
It also fell on Rodriguez to inform Alex Buenrostro -- already reeling from the news that two of his children were dead -- that the body of his 4-year-old daughter, Deidra, had been found in an abandoned post office west of San Jacinto.
"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Rodriguez said.
Police created a trust fund to raise money for the children's funeral. Rodriguez gave Alex Buenrostro the check from the fund. The children were buried in the same cemetery where Rodriguez's brother was laid to rest.
Dora Buenrostro's trial began several weeks ago, and Rodriguez attended every hearing, saying he felt it was important that he be there. On the day Alex Buenrostro testified, Rodriguez went up to shake his hand. The two men hugged instead.
It was difficult at times to see the photographs of the children -- images of them dead and alive -- and hear Buenrostro testify about the toll it has taken on his life. Rodriguez cried, along with others in the courtroom, when he watched a video showing Buenrostro's agony as he was told by police that Susana and Vicente were dead.
"I can't imagine what he has been through," said Rodriguez, who is married and has three children.
Rodriguez, 37, hopes to keep in touch with Buenrostro now that his former wife has been sentenced to death.
Published 7/30/1998