Distraught Father Kills Children, Then Self as Wife Watches

An Oxnard man apparently distraught over marital troubles suffocated his small daughter, strangled his son and then shot and killed himself before the horrified eyes of his estranged wife, authorities said Sunday.

Investigators found the three bodies in separate bedrooms after the woman summoned police to the house, located in a quiet, middle-class section of this coastal city northwest of Los Angeles on Saturday night.

Stephen Navarro, 32, and his wife, Melora, had separated three months ago and were living apart, but the children were visiting their father on Saturday.

Navarro used a pillow to smother his 3-year-old daughter, Nicole, possibly as she slept, and then strangled his son, Joseph, 7, as he lay in a sleeping bag, Oxnard police and Ventura County coroners said.

Navarro then summoned his wife to the home, talked to her for a couple of hours and then “without warning” pulled a gun and shot himself in the head, Sgt. Denny Phillips said.

“The husband apparently killed the children early in the evening and called her (the mother) to view the deed,” he said.

Shocked neighbors Sunday described the Navarro couple as average, quiet, nice people who had been trying to work out their marital problems. Stephen Navarro, a plumber, was called a friendly and generous neighbor.

“Both seemed to really care about the kids; that was reflected in the kids, who were really sweet,” neighbor Fred Becker said. Stephen Navarro “was the kind of guy who you’d love to go down to the ballpark and have a baseball game with.”

Stephen Navarro’s pickup truck and Melora Navarro’s Toyota were parked outside their beige stucco home Sunday. He had installed the plumbing in most of the area’s houses.

Neighbors said Navarro participated in activities on the block, was co-captain of a Neighborhood Watch Committee and would help out by mowing people’s lawns when they went on vacation or cutting wood in his workshop as a favor to neighbors.

A ‘Strait-Laced’ Man

“If you wanted someone to take care of your pets, he was the person you’d go to,” Karen Becker said.

Curtis Yarborough, who lives across the street from the Navarros, said Stephen Navarro was a “strait-laced” man who didn’t joke around much.

“All I know is, he leaves in the morning just like everybody else, and comes home at night,” said Yarborough, whose daughter frequently baby-sat for the Navarros. Yarborough said that as recently as the morning of the murder-suicide, Navarro presented an untroubled facade. They two had waved at each other from their front yards.

“He said, ‘Hi, how are you doing?’ just like he always does. He was always the same Steve.”