Gunpowder Found on Hands of Both Caros

Gunpowder residue was found on the hands of both Socorro Caro and her doctor husband, Xavier, a forensic criminalist testified during the woman’s murder trial Friday.

Defense attorneys may use the testimony to bolster their argument that Socorro Caro was not responsible for the shooting deaths of her sons, Joey, 11, Michael, 8, and Christopher, 5.

They allege that Xavier Caro was responsible for the boys’ deaths and then framed his wife, who was found with a near-fatal gunshot wound to her head. Xavier Caro told authorities that he was at his office 32 miles away at the time of the shootings. He has not been charged with any crime in connection with the slayings.

Although Laila Panahinia Behnam, a criminalist for Santa Clara County’s crime lab, acknowledged that powder was on the hands of Xavier Caro, she said it does not mean he fired a weapon. The residue could have been transferred if he picked up a gun that had been recently fired or if he touched objects that had been fired upon, she said.

Xavier Caro told authorities that he picked up the gun, lying by his wife’s side, after arriving home and discovering his spouse and their sons shot. He also touched his fatally wounded sons, trying to render CPR to one boy before paramedics arrived.

It was the final day of testimony in the prosecution’s case against Socorro Caro, accused of shooting her sons as they slept in their beds. Prosecutors allege that Caro committed the killings to get back at her husband, who she feared was going to leave her. Caro has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to three counts of first-degree murder.

A 13-month old son who was in the home the night of the Nov. 22, 1999, slayings was unharmed.

Before prosecutors rested their case, firearms expert Jim Roberts testified about the .38-caliber handgun used in the killings and gave details about bullet fragments recovered from the boys and furniture in their bedroom.

At one point in the testimony, Roberts was asked to demonstrate how the gun fired by aiming the empty gun toward the ceiling and rapidly pulling the trigger several times.

As he did, Caro turned her chair away from the witness and leaned into one of her attorneys, Nicholas Beeson. Beeson gently rubbed his client’s shoulder as she removed her glasses to wipe away tears.

On Monday, jurors will tour the family’s sprawling five-bedroom home in the Santa Rosa Valley.

Beeson and his co-counsel, Assistant Public Defender Jean Farley, will begin presenting their case Tuesday morning. If found guilty, Caro could face the death penalty.