2 Arrested After Fatal Stabbing in Thousand Oaks

Two men were arrested Sunday in connection with a fatal weekend stabbing--the city’s first homicide in more than two years.

Doroteo Gonzales, 42, and Manuel Calvillo, 29, of Thousand Oaks were booked Sunday afternoon on suspicion of slaying Antonio Gonzalez Gonzalez.

The arrests came after sheriff’s deputies spent hours interviewing eight men they took into custody late Saturday night in connection with Gonzalez’s stabbing.

Gonzalez, 45, died just before 9 p.m. Saturday as he lay in a pool of blood on the sidewalk in front of his home in the 800 block of Avenida de los Arboles. Gonzalez had multiple stab wounds in his chest and abdomen inflicted by a large kitchen knife, said witnesses and authorities.

His death came as a shock to neighbors in this east county city, which usually ranks among the safest in the nation. This year, Thousand Oaks was ranked the No. 2 safest city in the U.S. with a population in excess of 100,000, according to the FBI.

Officers responded to a 911 disturbance call Saturday about 8:50 p.m. and found Gonzalez lying on the sidewalk in the residential neighborhood. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Gonzalez’s death was the culmination of an argument that escalated into violence, said Sgt. Steve Bourke of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. More than a dozen people are believed to live in the one-story house where the victim lived but police would not elaborate on the relationship between the victim and the suspects or on whether the suspects also lived in the home.

The sequence of events remains unclear, although authorities spent most of Sunday swabbing blood samples and searching the house for clues.

Hardly a patch of grass or sidewalk was left unexamined. The lawn was dotted with a dozen bright yellow crime scene placards that mark evidence. Forensics experts removed blood-stained rose petals and placed them in a small evidence envelope.

A trail of blood splotches was noticeable for more than two blocks away from where Gonzalez died. But authorities were unsure whether Gonzalez was stabbed several blocks away and lost blood as he ran toward his house or if the alleged killer left the blood trail in an attempt to flee the scene.

One neighbor, who is new to the area, said he has heard loud music and partying on Saturday nights at Gonzalez’s house though he did not hear any disturbances this weekend.

Although Avenida de los Arboles has become increasingly busy with traffic over the years, it is not a major thoroughfare. Typically thought of as an upscale neighborhood, the section of Thousand Oaks is economically mixed--some houses have expensive sport utility vehicles in their driveways, while others have fallen into disrepair.

Most neighbors said they heard and saw very little Saturday night. But many agreed on Sunday that the stabbing death of their neighbor has them shaken.

“I’m wondering if I should stay here,” said Margaret Ahlberg, who has lived on the 800 block of Avenida de los Arboles since 1963. “It makes me a little nervous.”

City Councilman Mike Markey said homicide is the “ultimate” crime and will always be met with concern.

Although Thousand Oaks is one of the nation’s safest cities, Markey said, “It sends a message to the community that we still have crime.”

Saturday’s stabbing is the first homicide in the city since bank teller Monica Leech was fatally shot while working at Western Financial Bank in April 1997. The killers are still at large in the shooting of Leech, a wife and mother of two.

In May 1998, police fatally shot Thousand Oaks resident Derek Myers after he failed to pull over during a traffic violation and led deputies on a predawn car chase that ended with him pointing a paint-ball gun at them, which police said looked like a real weapon. The 26-year-old died at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds.

Times Community News reporter Matt Surman and Times photographer Spencer Weiner contributed to this story.