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thedrifter
10-28-08, 06:37 AM
Marine found dead, wife hurt in Calif. home
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 28, 2008 7:32:48 EDT

FALLBROOK, Calif. — A Marine sergeant has been found dead and his wife in critical condition in what authorities believe was a domestic dispute at their Fallbrook home.

San Diego County sheriff’s Lt. Dennis Brugos said two Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton went to the sergeant’s home Monday after he missed work. Brugos said they found the Marine’s body in the garage and his wife in a bedroom with serious head injuries.

Detectives suspect the sergeant killed himself after thinking he had killed his wife, but they would not say how he died.

The woman was hospitalized. No names have been released.

The couple’s two young sons were found at the home of their child care provider. Brugos said they were likely not at their parents’ home during the fight.

Ellie

thedrifter
10-28-08, 07:14 AM
Last modified Tuesday, October 28, 2008 12:12 AM PDT
FALLBROOK: Man dead, woman injured in incident

By SARAH GORDON - Staff Writer

FALLBROOK ---- A Marine evidently killed himself at home Monday after he apparently struck his wife on the head with a heavy object and left her in critical condition, a Sheriff's Department homicide lieutenant said.

It was not clear Monday what motivated the violence or whether the husband, a sergeant in his 20s, believed his wife was dead when he took his own life, Lt. Dennis Brugos said.

Few details about the couple were available from law enforcement or neighbors. Police did not identify either the man or the woman.

The couple were discovered about 1:45 p.m., after two Camp Pendleton Marines went to their house in the 600 block of Elbrook Street, about a block north of Fallbrook Street, to check on the sergeant, who hadn't shown up for work that morning, Brugos said.

There were two cars in the driveway but no one answered the door, so the Marines called law enforcement.

A deputy arrived and forced his way into the modest, two-story home set back from the street on a long driveway.

A man was found dead in the garage from a self-inflicted injury, Brugos said. He declined to specify the injury other than to say it was not a gunshot wound.

The deputy searched the house for other victims and found the man's wife, also in her 20s, unconscious in a bedroom, Brugos said.

She had a serious head injury from being hit with something heavy, he said.

The woman was taken to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido in critical condition, Brugos said.

Homicide detectives responded to the house but were still waiting for a search warrant at 8 p.m. and had not conducted a thorough search, Brugos said.

Initial indications were that the husband struck his wife then killed himself, he said.

Neighbors did not see or hear anything that indicated the couple had been arguing, he said.

The couple's two young sons were not home when deputies responded, but they were later located at a Fallbrook home where they were regularly sent for child care, Brugos said. Child Protective Services was notified.

Detectives do not believe the boys were home when the crime occurred, Brugos said.

Brugos said the family had rented the house for about five months, and that neighbors did not know them well.

Chris Mendoza, who lives in a house in front of the couple's home, said he didn't know the family, but he never heard the husband and wife arguing.

On the contrary, he thought of the house as homey because of the smells of meals being cooked inside.

"They cook carne asada," he said. "We'd say, 'That smells good.' "

Mendoza said he and his family never expected to see crime tape around any of the homes on the quiet street.

"Everybody's got a little problem inside their house, but we are surprised," he said.

Contact staff writer Sarah Gordon at (760) 740-3517 or sgordon@nctimes.com

Ellie

thedrifter
10-29-08, 07:50 AM
Last modified Tuesday, October 28, 2008 6:09 PM PDT
FALLBROOK: Authorities say Marine likely hurt his wife, hanged himself

By North County Times

FALLBROOK ---- The 28-year-old Camp Pendleton Marine who killed himself after apparently striking his wife in the head with a heavy object died by hanging himself in the garage of the couple's Fallbrook home, the medical examiner's office said Tuesday.

The names of the dead man and his wife were not released Tuesday. Sheriff's homicide Lt. Dennis Brugos said Tuesday that the woman, 23, remained unconscious and in critical condition at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido.

The couple's twin 5-year-old sons were in protective care, Brugos said. They were at daycare Monday when the violence occurred, he said.

Sheriff's deputies were called to the house in the 600 block of Elbrook Street early Monday afternoon by two Marines who had gone there to check on their fellow Marine who had not shown up for work that morning, Brugos said.

A deputy who forced his way into the house found the man hanging in the garage and his wife unconscious in a bedroom. She had sustained major trauma to the head after being hit, Brugos said.

Sheriff's homicide detectives searched the home Monday night but turned up few clues about what happened, Brugos said. He said detectives believe the man attacked his wife, then killed himself.

Ellie

thedrifter
10-29-08, 02:49 PM
10News.comRelated To Story



Marine Found Dead Inside Home Is Identified

POSTED: 10:25 am PDT October 29, 2008

FALLBROOK, Calif. -- The Camp Pendleton Marine who apparently committed suicide, believing he'd just killed his wife in their Fallbrook home, was identified Wednesday as an Iraq War veteran named Sgt. Braulio V. Martinez.

Deputies conducting a welfare check in the 600 block of Elbrook Drive found the 28-year-old Martinez dead and his 23-year-old wife in critical condition around 1:40 p.m. Monday, sheriff's homicide Lt. Dennis Brugos said.

According to a Camp Pendleton statement, Martinez was a native of Hidalgo, Texas, and joined the Marine Corps in 2003. He was twice deployed to Iraq.

Martinez appeared to have died from self-inflicted injuries while his wife suffered from severe blunt force trauma to the head, Brugos said. She was taken to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, where her condition was listed as critical.

Deputies were called to the home by two Camp Pendleton Marines who went to the couple's home after their fellow Marine had failed to show up for work,Brugos said.

The couple's vehicles were parked outside the home, but no one answered the door, he said.

The couple's two young children were found unharmed at the residence of a child care provider in Fallbrook, according to Brugos.

Ellie