Man Slain by Ex-Wife After Breaking Into El Cajon Home

An El Cajon man was fatally shot when he attempted to attack his ex-wife in her home, El Cajon police said Thursday.

Edward Mendidles Jr., 42, was shot once in the chest Wednesday night with a .38-caliber revolver and died a short time later at Sharp Memorial Hospital, police spokeswoman Julie Palos said. His ex-wife, Linda Sharon Minear, was questioned by police and released, Palos said.

At 6:47 p.m., officers responded to a report of shots being fired at a home in the 1400 block of Naranca Avenue, Palos said. They found Mendidles lying on the floor with a bullet wound in his chest, she said.

Minear told police that she shot Mendidles when he broke down her back door and came toward her making threats, Palos said.

Minear told police that her 1966 marriage to Mendidles ended in 1968, and they did not speak to each other until last June, when Mendidles called and asked her on a date, Palos said. During their new courtship, Minear said that Mendidles drank heavily and abused her.

Although Minear filed and later dropped an assault with a deadly weapon complaint against Mendidles in October, he moved into her El Cajon home earlier this month, Palos said. Minear told police that on the day of the shooting Mendidles was drinking heavily and she locked him out of the house because she believed her life was in danger, Palos said.

An autopsy and toxicological tests will be performed.