San Jose Man Charged In 'Horrific' Torture Murder Of 72-Year-Old
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- A 25-year-old San Jose man was charged with the murder Thursday of a 72-year-old man who was tied to a chair, repeatedly stabbed and then drowned in a bathtub, prosecutors said.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen didn't mince words when describing the gruesomeness of what suspect Sherman Smith allegedly did. Smith was arraigned on Wednesday and was remanded without bail.
"This horrific crime and the defendant who did it has no place in our society," Rosen said in a news release. "Our hearts go out to the victim's family and friends."
On Monday, September 6th, San Jose police received a 911 call regarding a request for a welfare check at an apartment on E. Santa Clara Street. The woman caller was worried about her father.
That morning police entered the apartment and found the victim's body in a bathtub. He had been stabbed and had a rope around his torso. The crime scene had been cleaned with bleach, but police found evidence that clearly showed an extremely violent and bloody crime.
A surveillance video showed the suspect entering the victim's apartment, staying there for 30 hours and then leaving laden with shopping bags.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner found three stab wounds on the victim's back. The medical examiner believes that in and of themselves, the stab wounds were not fatal.
There have been 36 homicides in San Jose this year. Of those, 27 were being investigated by San Jose police. The victims of the VTA rail yard massacre were being investigated by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office.