Woman’s Ex-Lover Sought in Killings of 4 in Rosemead

Sheriff’s detectives searched Tuesday for a 41-year-old man who allegedly opened fire and killed four members of a Rosemead family in a jealous rage over a failed romantic relationship with the mother of his two sons.

Reportedly obsessed with his ex-girlfriend, Evelio Rivera Zacarias allegedly stormed into the home of her new boyfriend’s family Monday night, shot six people, then kidnapped a woman and sexually assaulted her.

The 40-year-old woman was released Tuesday morning, as authorities scrambled to find a “deadly individual who would kill without batting an eye,” one detective said.

“According to surviving victims, Mr. Zacarias hasn’t gotten done killing,” Det. Gil Carrillo said.

The dead were the apparent primary target of the attack, Jaime Pacheco, 48; Victor Lopez, 49; Pacheco’s brother Oscar, 37; and Oscar’s son, Andy, 13.

The former girlfriend, who was present but not harmed during the attack, is the mother of two adult sons of the suspect, and Zacarias allegedly threatened to kill one of them, Carrillo said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, at the Pachecos’ home on Walnut Grove Avenue, drying pools of blood offered gruesome images of a crime that destroyed an immigrant family from El Salvador. The coagulated outline of a man remained under a tree. Smeared handprints marked the sidewalk.

Neighbors and friends stared at the scene, pondering a family suddenly brought to ruin.

Children bicycles gathered in a circle, rolling back and forth, talking in sad bursts about Andy, a shy basketball and football fanatic who was about to enter San Gabriel High School.

They talked about Andy’s cousin, a 17-year-old boy who was wounded and taken to County-USC Medical Center, where he was listed in serious condition. A sixth person, who was not identified, was also reported in serious condition.

The shooting followed another quadruple homicide that occurred in May about a mile away.

In that incident, a man opened fire in an Asian nightclub in El Monte and killed four people. Sheriff’s detectives have not identified a suspect in those slayings.

According to authorities, the suspect in the Rosemead rampage is a construction worker who was becoming increasingly consumed with his ex-girlfriend.

The couple had broken up two years ago, and in March she had moved in with Jaime Pacheco.

That apparently pushed Zacarias over the edge, Carrillo said.

Zacarias allegedly grew violent on two occasions, and the woman had sought a restraining order.

The order had been granted, but not yet served, when Zacarias marched into the Pacheco home with guns blazing Monday night, investigators said.

The gunman shot two victims in a bedroom, another near the back door. He reloaded his semiautomatic gun, then chased another person down the street, killing him in a yard next door, authorities said.

Neighbors hearing the gunfire crouched on their floors. Michael Vo, who lives across the street, peeked out of a crack in his door and saw a man lying on the ground. Then he saw a man in a cowboy hat strolling casually around and assumed that the noise had come from firecrackers or something harmless. He went back to eating dinner with his wife, when more shots sounded. He then called 911.

Others saw the suspect with a woman grasped in his arm as walked away from the home. They left in an old pickup truck.

Zacarias allegedly sexually assaulted the woman twice in the City of Industry or in an industrial area of La Puente.

Then he discovered his truck had a flat tire and forced the woman to flag down a ride for them to El Monte. There, they took a taxi to West Covina, where they met one of his friends with a pickup truck, authorities said.

From there they drove south to near the Pomona Freeway, where the woman was freed.

Zacarias is described as 5-foot-5 and 160 pounds. He may be in Pomona, Fontana or Baldwin Park, Carrillo said.

The rampage left a devastated neighborhood, where residents gathered to talk, cry and remember the innocent victims.

One youth lighted a votive candle and set down a flower for the family and his friend Andy.

“This is just a horrible tragedy,” said Randy Villegos, 17. “They were such a good family. . . . Whenever we missed the bus at school, the dad would always give us a ride home.”

Yolanda Chavez drove from West Covina to confirm that the slayings involved the Oscar Pacheco she knew.

He was once one of the most diligent workers at her father’s company, and the two had become friends. She said he was working his way up the economic ladder and ran a clothing factory.

“I just can’t believe it,” she said. “I just want to know what happened. I’ve been trying to get hold of his sister all morning.”

Pam Salgado came to the house because her son was a good friend of Andy.

When she saw the blood, she broke down in sobs and hugged a woman she didn’t even know.

She said that when Andy and her son Philip played video games together, she was delighted because the boy came from such a strait-laced family. Tuesday morning, Philip was still sleeping when she arrived, and she dreaded breaking the news to him.

Later, Salgado went to the school to see about raising money for the Pachecos.

“If there’s that many victims from one family, it’s going to be horrible for them,” she said.