Man Free in Slaying After His Claim of Child Abuse

A man who killed his wife’s stepfather after allegedly finding the older man molesting the couple’s young daughter will not face murder charges because he killed “in the heat of passion,” a deputy district attorney said Saturday.

Salvador Jesus Flores, 20, of Anaheim was released Friday from Anaheim City Jail, where he had been held in the slaying of Thomas Michael Hobeck, 45. The slaying was “an excusable homicide,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Mel Jensen said.

“It appeared to be a sufficient provocation,” Jensen said of Flores’ allegation that he went into a rage after finding Hobeck molesting his 18-month-old daughter Wednesday night. Flores told Anaheim police that he had attacked Hobeck with his hands and feet.

No ‘Intent to Kill’

“It appeared to be something that a person might do under the circumstances,” Jensen said. “There didn’t appear to be any intent to kill at all.”

Flores and his stepfather had been drinking Wednesday evening at Flores’ Anaheim apartment. Flores left to buy more beer, leaving his 18-month-old daughter and 3-month-old twin girls with Hobeck, Anaheim police said. Flores’ wife was at work at the time. Upon returning, Flores told officers that he found Hobeck, partially undressed, molesting his oldest daughter.

Jensen said a check by doctors revealed “no physical damage to the child.”

Although no charges were filed, the investigation will continue, Jensen said. If new evidence surfaces that contradicts Flores’ story or sheds new light on the case, the district attorney could still file charges, Jensen explained.

“We’ve got several other things to look at,” including hospital records and a review of the two men’s backgrounds, Jensen said. “But initially, it looks like everything we could find lent itself to the decision of excusable homicide.”