A California woman’s head was severed by a sword-wielding maniac in broad daylight Thursday as witnesses watched in horror, police said.
The horrifying attack occurred in San Carlos, a small town about halfway between San Jose and San Francisco in the state’s wealthy Silicon Valley region. San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputies found the victim dead just before noon after they were flagged down by a witness, KNTV reported. Her head had been cut off, according to the report.
“Anytime someone loses their life, it’s certainly a tragedy,” San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Eamonn Allen told reporters. “As far as the shocking nature of it, I do know that the deputies that first arrived on scene were a little beset by the scene. We are providing them peer support. We are also providing support for the witnesses that were on scene as well because there were several civilian witnesses.”
Man apparently cut off woman's head with sword in middle of street in Bay Area neighborhood, law enforcement sources say https://t.co/QeWtkjhx0H
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) September 9, 2022
Witnesses said the weapon, which had not been recovered, was a samurai sword and described a sickening crime scene.
“The head was underneath the car and she was laying in the back of the car — just severed,” Chapel Thorborne, a neighbor, told KGO. “After he cut her head off, he came walking up, him and his two friends. And they walked right by me and they arrested him.”
The suspect, who appears to have been in a relationship with the victim, fled but was arrested blocks from the scene, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. He was later identified as Jose Landaeta Solano, KNTV reported.
“The suspect is known to the victim and this is believed to be an isolated incident,” the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Thorborne, who lives in the neighborhood, told the NBC affiliate they had moved into a home near the crime scene about three years ago.
“They seemed like they loved each other,” he said.
The 25-year-old victim has not been identified, but the outlet reported that she had two children, a seven-year-old and a one-year-old, and had a restraining order against Solano. The children were inside the home and did not witness the killing of their mother, authorities said.