The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Photograph by Dan Pulcrano Police discovered the three bodies on Monday evening after responding to a call from a neighbor concerned about the Perez family. Man, 79, slays wife and son, then turns gun on himself Investigators believe couple was preparing to divorce By JUSTIN BERTON The bodies of three Sunnyvale residents were pulled from a home in the 800 block of Maria Lane early Tuesday morning, following a bitter domestic dispute that ended in the city's first double murder suicide, police officials said. Police believe Manuel Perez, 79, shot and killed his son, Ben, 55, and his wife Vera, 78, then turned the gun on himself. The bodies were found at least three days after the incident occurred, Capt. Steve Pigott said. "The last time they were seen or talked to was on Thursday," Pigott said. Genevive Bettencourt, the neighbor who called police after noticing the garage door on the modest single-story home was left open the entire weekend, said the younger Perez had moved back into the home recently, causing tension in the household. "The boy made trouble between the father and the mother," Bettencourt said. She characterized Ben Perez as a freeloading son who was sternly protected by his mother when the elder Perez would ask his son to move out or look for work. "He had a good line of B.S.," she said. "He was a total fake." Bettencourt, who has lived across the street from the family since she moved into the quaint neighborhood in 1955, also remembered Manuel Perez as a kind neighbor who was quick to help with small tasks around her home. "He even put up the paneling around my kitchen," she said. Bettencourt added that each day around 2 p.m., she would go out to retrieve her mail and would usually spot Manuel Perez walking by or working in the yard. As last weekend wore on, Bettencourt noticed from her second-story bedroom window that leaves and debris from a nearby construction site were beginning to pile up around the Perez home. "Manuel was very neat," she recalled, as she shook her head. "I knew something was very funny." Seventeen-year-old Kris Perez [no relation] lives a few doors away from the home where the couple lived and regularly exchanged greetings with the older man but never knew his name. The youth noted it was strange not to see the couple outside. "I hadn't seen them in three days," he said early Tuesday morning on the cordoned off street. "Usually they're out there in the yard doing something." Bettencourt called the house twice Sunday and Monday, but received busy signals both times. She then called the Perez's daughter, Barbara, in Morgan Hill to notify her of her suspicions. Bettencourt said the advice given by the daughter was "Don't go over there alone." "They figured the brother [Ben] was kinda yacko," Bettencourt added. Bettencourt didn't go to the house alone. She called the Sunnyvale Public Safety Department; two patrol officers made the grisly discovery at 7:08 p.m. In the course of interviewing friends and relatives, investigators learned the Perezes were preparing to divorce, Pigott said, which led to a heated argument. Police estimate that sometime late Thursday evening or early Friday, Manuel Perez used a .38 caliber handgun to kill his family. First, he walked into the kitchen and shot his son twice, once in the arm and once in the chest. Then, police say, Perez went into the hallway, where he fired twice at his wife, Vera. She was struck twice in the chest and fell into the master bedroom. Perez then went into the living room, where he put the gun to his head and ended his life. "I'm sad that this happened in my neighborhood for godsakes," Bettencourt said. Next door to the Perez's home, construction crews continued work on a soon-to-be-completed 73-unit extended-stay hotel. Project manager Pat Kennedy said Ben Perez called the city several times to complain about the debris that kicked up onto their property. "We never heard a peep out of them unless there was dirt in their yard or a truck parked in front of their house," Kennedy said. Kennedy said he spoke with Manuel Perez on a few occasions and described him as "a good guy, mild mannered." [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, October 28, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.