Suspect in Sons’ Slayings Asks for Attorney

A Santa Rosa Valley mother suspected of killing three of her sons and then shooting herself in the head refused to answer questions and asked for a lawyer while awaiting surgery early Tuesday morning, authorities said Wednesday.

Socorro “Cora” Caro, 42, the wife of a prominent Northridge physician, is suspected of shooting her three school-age sons in the head while they slept late Monday, then sparing the life of her toddler son, authorities said.

“She very quickly asked for an attorney,” Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks said. “She’s waiting for an attorney. So I don’t think we’ll have any direct statement from her.”

Brooks said Caro, who remains hospitalized in serious condition, is the only suspect at this point.

Her husband, Dr. Xavier Caro, 52, called police after returning to his luxury ridge-top home from his Northridge office late Monday to find his sons dead in their beds, his wife shot and bleeding from the head, and a small revolver nearby.

The father has cooperated fully with investigators and nothing suggests he was involved in the slayings, the sheriff said.

“At this time the husband is not being looked at as a suspect,” Brooks said. “But I hate to say [Cora Caro] will be the only suspect. We just don’t have enough information to be definitive on that. She’s going to be the prime source of information and right now we’re not receiving any [from her].”

After word of the tragedy spread Tuesday, shocked friends described Cora Caro as a devoted stay-at-home mother, school volunteer and churchgoer.

But some current and former co-workers on Wednesday described her as a harsh, temperamental manager who ran her husband’s office near the Northridge Hospital Medical Center with an iron hand.

She was an elegant, well-dressed woman who always carried herself regally, but there were also signs that she was deeply troubled, they said.

Co-workers said Cora Caro, who stopped working a few months ago, made jokes and sarcastic remarks about being on antidepressant drugs such as Prozac and Xanex.

“She had her fits if things didn’t go her way. She was cold. She was almost like a spoiled kid,” said nurse Nicole Ledet, who worked for four years for Dr. Caro before she was fired after an argument with Cora Caro in April. “People have walked out of there crying because of her.”

The office has had a high turnover rate because of Cora’s volatile temper, current and former employees said.

The same workers described Dr. Caro almost as his wife’s opposite--a gentle, easygoing man and a rheumatologist so respected that patients drive long distances and fly in from out of state to see him.

The doctor loved and doted on his children, they said. He often left work early so that he could attend his oldest son, Joseph’s, soccer games. Last year, the doctor stood in line to buy “Star Wars” tickets for his children. More recently, he sat through the Pokemon movie with his sons.

“He was like a superdad,” Ledet said.

*

The Caros have a history of marital problems, sheriff’s investigators have been told. A source close to the investigation, however, said those problems did not involve extramarital affairs.

“There is no evidence of any other parties involved,” the source said. “Just reports of tension between the two of them. . . . And if the [crime] motive was anger against the husband, we have to deal with the possibility that she may accuse him. We have to look at both sides of this thing very carefully.”

Doctors upgraded Cora Caro’s condition from critical to serious early Wednesday, and a breathing tube was removed from her throat. Still, she hardly speaks at all, even when spoken to, hospital spokeswoman Kris Carraway-Bowman said.

The patient is lucky, Carraway-Bowman said, because a bullet entered her right upper skull, ricocheted off and missed her brain. “We did a CAT scan and her brain is fine, healthy.”

Xavier Caro called to check on his wife’s condition, and other family members telephoned to offer support.

The priest from the Caros’ Camarillo parish called to see if he could visit the patient, but she did not even recognize the cleric’s name, Carraway-Bowman said.

No family members, the only ones allowed to visit, had come to see Cora Caro by late Wednesday. “It’s been unusually quiet,” Carraway-Bowman said.

*

Even sheriff’s investigators, who arrived at 8:30 a.m. to question the suspect, left before long. And a county prosecutor who was at the hospital Tuesday did not return Wednesday.

“She’s not going anywhere,” Carraway-Bowman said.

No arrest should be expected, Brooks said, unless investigators conclude that Cora Caro was the killer.

“They’ll make an arrest when they have all the details,” the sheriff said. “They were at the coroner’s office [this morning]. And when it leads certainly to one individual they’ll go ahead.”

The coroner’s autopsy showed that the three Caro boys--Christopher, 5; Michael, 8; and Joseph, 11--were killed by single gunshot wounds to the head. No details were released.

Other physical evidence--such as a small revolver--is still being examined, Brooks said. The handgun was kept as a household weapon.

“Obviously, the physical evidence is there and readily retrievable,” he said. “And we’re getting background on the persons involved.”

Family and friends provide conflicting information about Cora Caro, he said. Some people describe her as happy and involved with her sons and community. But others contradict that rosy picture, he said.

Xavier Caro’s statement about what he saw when he came home is also an important piece of the puzzle, the sheriff said, but the doctor’s wife might dispute that.

“We still don’t know exactly what happened,” he said. “We only have one person’s version, and the other person is not talking to us.”

*

Xavier Caro “is terribly distraught,” Brooks said. “He’s lost three children.”

Raul Caro said his brother is struggling with the tragedy that none of them saw coming.

“We have no idea why this happened,” he said. “ ‘Why’ is the biggest question. I don’t know that we’ll ever be able to answer that.”

The mourning father spent early Wednesday at home, comforted by friends and family who visited the house and flooded the telephone line with calls, said friends staying with him. But by midmorning, the painful tasks that lay ahead bore down on him.

The insurance company was calling. Cleanup crews had arrived. In the early afternoon, with his wife still hospitalized and three of his children’s autopsies in progress, Caro headed out to look for the best burial plots he could find for his sons.

Longtime friends, who asked not to be identified, said Caro was holding himself together well under the circumstances, but every couple of hours would “fall apart” before regaining his composure.

The deaths of the Caro boys were also felt in particular at their elementary school.

Flags were flown at half-staff at Santa Rosa School, but Principal Craig Helmstedter said most of the students are too young to grasp the concept of death, let alone homicide.

“We had a few students who were very upset last night and shedding some tears, but I don’t think it’s hit most of them yet,” Helmstedter said.

Parents, on the other hand, were grief-stricken. About 60 attended a morning session with counselors at the school, mostly asking how much they should explain to their little ones about what unfolded in the Caros’ home Monday night.

Many emerged teary-eyed. Wyne Quinn, whose first-grader Evan was asking questions about the boys’ deaths, said, “Because the boys were shot in their sleep, a lot of their security is in question. You have to tell them ‘I wouldn’t do that to you.’ ”

*

Many parents said they were telling their children as little as possible, and keeping the television and radio off when their children were around.

Students in 11-year-old Joseph Caro’s fifth-grade class had begun to express their sadness with notes and pictures.

They signed one “Pikachu,” a popular Pokemon character, attaching a valuable trading card to their simple message: “Everyone misses you. We wish that you were still here.” The Japanese cartoon was a favorite of the Caro brothers, school officials said.

In a heartfelt letter, one student wrote, “I, for one, will be very sad and I will remember you all my life.”

Another note, unsigned, read simply, “Sorry it had to be this way.”

Times staff writers Margaret Talev and Tina Dirmann contributed to this story.

FYI

A rosary vigil service is scheduled at Padre Serra Parish Church in Camarillo at 7 p.m. Tuesday. A Mass is planned for 10 a.m. Wednesday.