3 Testify for Caro at Close of Trial

Defense attorneys attempting to save Socorro Caro from death by injection rested their case Wednesday, capping weeks of testimony with praise for the convicted child-killer from her aunt, one of her sons’ teachers and a jail chaplain.

They were the last in a string of defense witnesses to describe the 44-year-old Santa Rosa Valley woman as loving and compassionate.

Caro was convicted last month of first-degree murder for shooting three of her four young sons as they slept. After hearing closing arguments from both sides today, jurors will decide whether to recommend the death penalty or life in prison without parole. The final decision will rest with Superior Court Judge Donald D. Coleman.

On the witness stand Wednesday, Margaret Oberon, who runs a jail ministry for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, called Caro “a positive influence” among the women incarcerated at the Ojai Honor Farm.

Oberon said she has counseled Caro weekly for nearly two years and has heard of her buoying other inmates with her encouragement.

Oberon testified that Caro did not confess the crimes to her during their sessions.

Trying to foster a sympathetic view of their client on the day before the jury meets to weigh her fate, Caro’s lawyers also called Jodi Atkinson, a fifth-grade teacher who knew Caro as a classroom volunteer at Santa Rosa Elementary School near Thousand Oaks.

Like other Santa Rosa teachers who have testified, Atkinson described Caro as enthusiastic and dedicated. With her son, Joey, in Atkinson’s class, Caro did various chores around the classroom and led a weekly reading group at a picnic table outside.

“She was always extremely positive,” Atkinson said. “She liked to work with all the kids--not just her own.”

When Atkinson asked parents at the start of the school year for a written description of their children, Caro sent her a glowing letter about Joey and his passion for “Star Wars.”

“We call Joey our Gentle Giant,” she wrote. “He is a very kindhearted and loyal person who will fight for peace (kind of like Luke Skywalker).”

She also pointed out that Joey could be “very prideful.”

“He cannot tolerate being the subject of ridicule, although sometimes he doesn’t realize he is doing the same to others,” she wrote.

Two months after that letter was written, 11-year-old Joey, 8-year-old Michael and 5-year-old Christopher died at their mother’s hands. During Caro’s nine-week trial, prosecutors argued that she committed the slayings to punish her husband, Dr. Xavier Caro. Defense attorneys contended that it was the physician who killed the boys and fired a bullet into his wife’s brain.

Also on the stand Wednesday, Caro’s aunt, Denice Leon, testified that Caro never behaved violently toward her sons.

“In fact, I often accused her of being overprotective,” Leon said. “I said, ‘They’re boys--let them be boys.’ ”