Suicide-Murder Suspected in San Diego Fire

A despondent Navy wife, who had threatened suicide as recently as last week, and her three children died early Monday when arson sent thick smoke billowing throughout their Paradise Hills home, police said.

Homicide investigators say they believe the fatal blaze--the worst residential fire here in at least 10 years--was a suicide-murder because a courtyard gate and the house’s front door were locked from the inside, and there were no signs of forced entry into the home, in the 100 block of Brandywood Street.

A Navy spokesman said Monday that a chaplain contacted county authorities several days ago to report that the children might be in an “urgent situation.” The Navy spokesman said San Diego County’s Department of Social Services promised to take immediate action; a county official said nothing was done because the county had no reason to believe there was an emergency.

Had Been Despondent

The Navy identified the victims as 36-year-old Esperanza Cabalbag and her three children: Jamie, 10; Tamara, 8, and Filomeno Jr., 5.

Cabalbag’s husband, Filomeno, has been deployed aboard the guided missile destroyer Henry B. Wilson since Dec. 1 and was at sea at the time of the fire, Navy Cmdr. David Dillon said.

Both Navy and police officials said Monday that Esperanza Cabalbag had been despondent since early March and had sent a letter last week to her husband, threatening suicide.

Contacted by Navy officials, police visited the Cabalbag home last week, confiscated a rifle from the woman and advised her to seek counseling for her depression, said Lt. Phil Jarvis, head of the San Diego Police Department’s homicide division.

A Navy chaplain working with the family was sufficiently concerned that he contacted the county’s Children’s Services Abuse Hotline on Thursday morning, Dillon said. The hot line takes reports of abused or neglected children.

“He communicated the situation, that there was some urgency,” Dillon said of the chaplain, whom he declined to identify. Children’s Services “knew the police had been there, and they said they would take it for action.”

Never Opened File

Children’s Services, however, never opened a file on the case because the agency believed there was no immediate threat to the children’s safety, spokeswoman Yolanda Thomas said.

“From all the records we have, the call came in asking for other financial resources available to the children,” Thomas said. “Basically, the family was not able to live on their allotment. There was no food. The children evidently were kept home from school because of the lack of food.

“There was no indication that there was any danger to the children,” Thomas said. “The indication was that this was a family that needed financial assistance. . . . A file was not opened on this case.”

According to fire and police officials, the blaze was first spotted early Monday by a motorist who saw smoke coming from the Cabalbag’s garage.

Firefighters were called at about 1:45 a.m. but found it difficult to get into the residence because of iron bars on the windows and a locked iron gate at the entrance to the courtyard, Jarvis said. The garage door, which ran on an automatic opener, was locked from the inside, Jarvis said.

Fire in Car

After cutting holes in the garage door with a chain saw, firefighters extinguished a blaze in one of the family’s cars before breaking through a side door leading to the courtyard. They then forced their way through the front door, which was locked from the inside with the keys still in the dead bolt lock, Jarvis said.

Firefighters found a series of fires sending a thick blanket of black smoke through the house. One of the Cabalbag children was found in the kitchen; the mother and her other two children were found in a bedroom, Jarvis said.

Firefighters and medical personnel tried to resuscitate the family, who were sent to three area hospitals before they were pronounced dead. The county coroner’s office said autopsies would be performed today.

Fire Department Capt. Larry Cooke said he did not know how long it took the firefighters to get into the house but that the delay probably didn’t figure in the deaths. “I don’t think so, because the fire had been going for a while,” he said.

Kenneth Beasley, a neighbor who watched the rescue efforts, faulted firefighters for taking a chain saw to the garage and spending about 15 minutes on the burning vehicle before trying to go into the house to rescue the family.

Knew They Were Dead

“They dealt with the garage so long and then finally got into the house,” Beasley said. “I said, ‘They’re probably dead.’ ”

“I knew they were dead when they brought them out. It was not a pretty sight to see them bringing those kids out. I was praying for them,” Beasley said.

Beasley noted that, despite the early-morning hour of the fire, the family members were dressed in street clothes. The only one in pajamas was the youngest boy, he said.

The house, which abuts Morse High School, sustained $40,000 worth of damage in the fire, officials said.

Since the fire was intentionally set, Jarvis said, police homicide detectives are in charge of the arson investigation. He said Monday afternoon that the fact that there were no signs of forced entry into the home had police believing the fire was a suicide-murder.

“I don’t see any indication that an outside person was involved in it, but there are a few things I want to clarify,” Jarvis said. “There certainly is an indication that suicide is a possibility.”

Burned-Out Couch

Jarvis added, however, that police will not make a final determination until they see toxicology reports on family members, as well as conduct tests to see if an outsider could have gained access to the home.

Homicide detectives sifted through the house, including the living room, where a burned-out couch, love seat and piano were all that remained. The ceiling and walls were charred, and handprints ran down the rear sliding-glass door.

Cmdr. Dillon said Navy officials and chaplains had talked to Cabalbag since at least early March about her depression. They also called police last week when she wrote her husband and threatened suicide.

Jarvis said police took away a rifle and suggested places she could obtain counseling.

“It appeared at the time that she was positive . . . and would follow the advice and contact some of these agencies for help,” Jarvis said.

Filomeno Cabalbag, a Filipino native and senior chief machinist mate who earns $2,999 a month, was informed of the tragedy Monday afternoon and will be sent home on emergency leave immediately, Dillon said.

He declined to say where Cabalbag’s ship is deployed, but said it left San Diego on Dec. 1.