Opinion ID: 1127405
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Tatman Murder

Text: Woodrow Wilson Tatman was a frail, undernourished, 72-year-old man who often drank alcohol and was confined to a wheelchair. He rented a room at the Bakersfield Inn, and spent his days drinking alcohol and watching television. Rose McGrew was employed by the inn as a maid and she also lived on the premises. She helped care for Tatman and had last been in his room on February 1, 1987. Maria Charboneau also worked and lived at the inn, and she took care of Tatman's Social Security checks, and managed his finances. In the first week of February, Tatman received two Social Security checks. On February 2, Charboneau gave Tatman between $80 and $100. That was the last time she saw him alive. On the afternoon of February 4, 1987, McGrew noticed that Tatman's drapes were still drawn and that he had not yet picked up his mail, which included his Social Security check. McGrew entered the room and found Tatman's body, lying on the floor near his bed. He was covered with a bedspread. Tatman's television, radio and electric skillet were missing from the room. The autopsy report indicated that Tatman was killed by massive blunt force injury to the left chest which collapsed his left lung and caused substantial hemorrhaging. The blow to the chest was consistent with a heel stomp or with the application of an instrument approximately two inches by three inches in size. Tatman also sustained several superficial stab wounds to the chest and lower abdomen, as well as a head injury. It appeared that the superficial injuries had been inflicted intra or post mortem, and none contributed to death. It could not be determined what instrument caused the lower abdominal injuries, although it appeared that the chest wounds were inflicted by a screwdriver. Dr. John Holloway, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy, could not determine whether the wounds were caused by one or more individuals.
Rufus Hernandez was incarcerated with defendant for two months during 1987. He had been charged with receiving stolen property and second degree burglary. Defendant spoke to Hernandez about the Bocanegra murders and Hernandez entered into a plea bargain whereby he received six months in county jail and three years' probation in exchange for his testimony. Hernandez testified that defendant told him he went with Joey Bocanegra to the Bocanegra house. Hernandez's testimony was inconsistent as to whether defendant said they went with the plan of robbing the Bocanegras or only with the plan of borrowing money from Juan Bocanegra. Defendant waited outside for Joey, but entered the house when he heard Joey and Juan arguing in the hallway. Defendant claimed he tried unsuccessfully to stop the fight by hitting Juan with a curved metal bar. He thereafter threw the bar in the front yard. Defendant did not say whether Joey had stabbed Juan before or after defendant hit him. Juanita, who heard the commotion from another room, came out of the bedroom yelling. Defendant slipped in a puddle of blood as he jumped over Juan to reach Juanita. He thereafter grabbed Juanita and told Joey that he should shut up his mother. Joey then stabbed his mother repeatedly and pushed her into the sewing room, where she was found. Defendant did not tell Hernandez that he did anything other than hold Juanita; instead defendant claimed that he saw Joey stab both victims with a kitchen knife. Defendant ended his story with the comment that after the murders he threw the bar into the front yard, and that the knife was thrown into a canal. Defendant noted that Joey took the television, a toolbox, and his parents' hatchback automobile. Hernandez thereafter reported defendant's statements to police investigator Stratton.
On February 19, 1987, Stratton met with defendant in the Kern County jail. Defendant had contacted the police through his attorney because he wished to offer statements about the Bocanegra crimes. Before commencing the interview, defendant waived his right to counsel after receiving the admonitions required by Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 [16 L.Ed.2d 694, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 10 A.L.R.3d 974]. Thereafter, he told Stratton that about 10 a.m., on the day of the Bocanegra murders, he met Joey Bocanegra on the street and spoke to him for a few minutes before Joey walked home. Defendant then walked by the Bocanegra house and observed Joey leaving the home. At that point, the interview with Stratton ended. One week later, Stratton again spoke to defendant. At this point, defendant asked Stratton a series of hypothetical questions, including: What if I was present in the house; what if Joey hit his dad after his dad had refused to give him some money; and what if Joey's dad hit him back and what if Joey got real mad and grabbed a knife and started stabbing his dad; what if Joey's mother didn't know what was happening because she was in another room?
On March 27, 1987, after waiving his Miranda rights, defendant was interviewed about the Tatman murder by Homicide Detective Boggs. Defendant had already been arrested for the Bocanegra murders and agreed to talk to the officer because he believed he could be spending the rest of his life in prison. Boggs testified that defendant told him he wanted to rob Tatman of his refrigerator because he needed one. Defendant told Boggs that, because he was so intoxicated (from ingesting alcohol and drugs) at the time of the robbery, he could not remember the sequence of events. According to Boggs, defendant asked Reyes to pry open Tatman's bathroom window with Reyes's screwdriver. Once inside, Reyes removed the contents of Tatman's refrigerator, and defendant moved it to a room next door that had been rented by Vicky Ornalez, a friend of the perpetrators. Defendant told Boggs that when he returned to Tatman's room, Tatman was awake and Reyes was standing over him with a screwdriver in his hand. Defendant claimed he had no idea why Reyes was acting this way because both men had discussed trying not to awaken Tatman while they removed his property. Reyes then hit Tatman in the chest, pulled Tatman off the bed and onto the floor, and made multiple lunging movements downward with the screwdriver in his hand. Defendant asserted that the bed partially blocked his view, but he nonetheless believed Reyes was stabbing Tatman. After Reyes completed the murder, both defendant and Reyes returned to Vickie Ornalez's room.
Michael Trihey was a reporter for the Bakersfield Californian. Prior to trial, he interviewed defendant five times about the charges pending against him. On April 25, 1988, the paper published a Trihey article entitled, Accused Asks for Own Death, System Says No. According to Trihey, defendant told him that he was a triple murderer and that the Bocanegras and Tatman were killed for their Social Security checks.