Murder Charges Dropped Against Gilroy Doctor Accused Of Hiring Hit Man To Kill Wife; Probe Finds He Had Been Framed
GILROY (KPIX 5) -- Santa Clara County prosecutors have dropped murder charges against a Gilroy doctor accused of hiring a hitman to stab his wife to death after determining the killer acted independently in an attempt to frame the husband.
Charges against 68-year-old German Baldeon were dismissed Tuesday and he was set free. He was arrested in June after his physician wife, 74-year-old Doris Knapp, was found stabbed to death.
"I wanted to do this case because it was a Matlock case," said defense attorney Paula Canny. "Matlock's clients are always innocent. Dr. Baldeon was innocent. I knew it form the beginning."
Seven months after the death of his wife - and four months after he was charged with her murder - Dr. German Baldeon walked back into a courtroom Tuesday. Five minutes later, the case against him was dismissed.
"This is a miracle," said Canny. "You couldn't make this into a Law & Order episode. You could make a mini-series and it would be interesting."
In June, prosecutors accused Dr. Baldeon of hiring David Galvez to kill his wife. It was tangled case involving life insurance policies, a condominium in Ecuador, and the hit man who has since fled to Ecuador, which does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
"When we filed the charges all the evidence pointed to Mr. Baldeon's guilt," said Santa Clara County District Attorney Angela Berhnard. "And in this case, as happens sometimes, we determined that things had changed, based on that further investigation."
What changed was the work of dogged defense investigators who built a stonger case, one suggesting that the alleged hit man was swindling both the victim and her husband - and was solely responsible for the killing.
"You translate all the documents from Spanish to English and you establish Dr. Baldeon's innocence," said Canny.
It's a case that had all the elements of a late-night crime drama: a husband accused of murder, a determined defense attorney, and a courtroom vindication.
"This reaffirms the concept of the presumption of innocence," said Canny.
But it's also the story of a man who walks free - only to face a loss that will never be dismissed. "I like, I like this sunny day," said Baldeon outside of court. "But my future, my sadness, it will be dark. I miss my wife. Thank you."