Daly City Woman Sentenced In Boiling Water Murder Of Ex-Husband

CBS San Francisco

May 17, 2013

A Daly City woman who killed her ex-husband by throwing a pot of boiling water on him while he slept was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison Friday, according to prosecutors.

Jesusa Ursula Tatad, 41, was sentenced Friday after pleading no contest on April 3 to a charge of second-degree murder with an enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon, according Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti.

Tatad was divorced from Ronie Tatad at the time of the Nov. 26, 2011, attack, but the two still shared an apartment together, according to prosecutors.

Jesusa Tatad, who prosecutors say believed her ex-husband was cheating on her, allegedly waited for him to fall asleep and then poured a pot of boiling water over him, causing second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body.

When the victim jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom, she reportedly hit him on the head with a baseball bat, according to the district attorney’s office.

The victim was able to run out of their apartment complex and flag down a security guard, who called 911.

He was taken to an intensive care unit at San Francisco General Hospital, where he remained in critical condition until succumbing to his injuries on Dec. 9.

Jesusa Tatad had been set to stand trial on charges of murder, assault, domestic violence, aggravated mayhem and torture before she changed her plea. She remained in custody without bail during the trial.

Boiling water murder: Daly City ex-wife gets 16 years to life in prison

By Joshua Melvin - MercuryNews,com

May 17, 2013

REDWOOD CITY -- Jesusa Tatad was called vile, hateful, selfish and urged to seek divine mercy Friday before being sentenced to 16 years to life in prison for murdering her ex-husband by dousing him with boiling water as he slept.

Tatad dropped her head and wept, dabbing her eyes with a tissue in her shackled hands, when San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Robert Foiles handed down the sentence. It came about a month after she pleaded no contest to the second-degree murder of her former husband Ronnie Tatad, 36, during a jealous rage over another woman.

Dozens of family members -- from her and her husband's families -- fought back tears as Ronnie Tatad's sister, Lilibeth Estes, of Ohio, described the permanent stain the tragedy had left on her.

"I developed a phobia of water," said Estes. "Even steam coming from the pans makes me shiver."

After calling Tatad vengeful, vile and selfish, Estes urged her to seek a supreme pardon.

"I hope you start praying for God to have mercy on your soul," Estes said. "We want to see that you are punished to the fullest extent of the law."

Except for her tears, 41-year-old Tatad didn't respond to the words of her former sister-in-law. However, defense attorney John May said his client had caused the death of the only man she ever loved, the father of their two young daughters.

"Mrs. Tatad is no monster," he said. "She wishes deeply she could change the outcome of her rash act."

Though the couple divorced in December 2007, they continued to share a small apartment in Daly City. Deputy district attorney Morris Maya said Ronnie was asleep in bed Nov. 26, 2011, when Jesusa Tatad tore back the covers and doused him with a pot of boiling water.

Defense attorney May said Ronnie Tatad had promised to remarry his client, but years went by and instead of keeping his word, he became involved with other women. Jesusa had walked in on him with another woman in their apartment just two weeks before the attack. May said his client finally snapped.

Ronnie Tatad died about two weeks later in a hospital due to a blood infection brought on by the burns, which covered about 55 percent of his body, prosecutors said. The burns left his head swollen up like a "basketball" and his skin oozing, said Estes, the victim's sister.

In the moments after the scalding he raced from the apartment and was found soaking wet, hysterical and half-naked, hiding behind a car. He became even more upset when Jesusa approached. Ronnie Tatad begged police to keep her away from him and she admitted to the scalding, police said.

But as officers prepared to handcuff her, Ronnie Tatad pleaded with police not to arrest her, according to court testimony.

Scorned ex-wife who killed sleeping husband by dousing him in boiling water faces 16 years in jail

• Jesusa Ursonal Tatad, 41, is convicted in the death of Ronnie Tatad, 36, in 2011

• Prosecutors say the ex-wife suspected he was having an affair before burning roughly 55 percent of his body

• Ronnie Tatad died two weeks later due to a blood infection caused by the burns

DailyMail.co.uk

April 4, 2013

A California woman convicted of killing her ex-husband by dousing him with a pot of boiling water faces 16 years to life in prison.

Jesusa Ursonal Tatad, 41, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder on Wednesday in a horrific attack that ended in the death of 36-year-old Ronnie Tatad of Daily City.

Prosecutors say that on the morning of November 26 of 2011, Jesusa Tatad pulled back the blankets on her ex-husband sleeping in their shared apartment before throwing a pot of boiling water on him.

She then proceeded to hit him over the head with a baseball bat, according to authorities.

The San Mateo County Times reports that Ronnie Tatad died about two weeks later of a blood infection connected to his burns.

Tatad had accused him of seeing another woman two weeks before the attack after allegedly walking in on him with another woman in their apartment.

Even though the couple divorced in 2007 Ronnie Tatad had promised to re-marry her and bring their two daughters, aged 9 and 14, back from the Philippines to live with them, his ex-wife said.

When he arrived home late the night before, Tatad went into a fit of jealousy, boiled the water and flung it on him, burning 55 percent of his body according to prosecutors.

'He came home later than he was supposed to,' defense attorney John May said. 'That's all I can say.'

He added: 'This is an acknowledgement by her that she caused the death of the only man she ever loved ... She wished she could change the past but she can't.'

Moments after fleeing his apartment Ronnie Tatad was found by an apartment maintenance man who called 911 after seeing the man half naked and hysterically hiding behind a car.

Police say the man grew even more hysterical once seeing his ex-wife follow him outside their apartment.

As part of a plea deal additional charges of torture and mayhem were dropped.

Tatad is being held without bail at the San Mateo County Jail.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 17.

Daly City woman pleads no contest to killing ex-husband with scalding water, DA says

By Joshua Melvin - MercuryNews.com

April 4, 2013

REDWOOD CITY -- A Daly City woman pleaded no contest Wednesday to murdering her ex-husband by dousing him with scalding water while in a rage of jealously over another woman, attorneys said.

Jesusa Ursonal Tatad, 41, entered her plea to second-degree murder in San Mateo County Superior Court and will get 16 years to life behind bars at her sentencing, which is set for May 17.

"This is an acknowledgment by her that she caused the death of the only man she ever loved," defense attorney John May said. "She wished she could change the past but she can't."

The couple had divorced in December 2007, but Ronnie Tatad, 36, had promised to remarry her and the pair were still living together, May said. They were sharing a tiny Daly City apartment on the morning of Nov. 26, 2011, when she tore back the covers on her sleeping ex-husband and doused him with a pan of water she had boiled.

"He came home later than he was supposed to," said May. "That's all I can say."

Jesusa Tatad reportedly had walked in on him just two weeks before with another woman in their apartment. It was two weeks after the hot water attack when Ronnie Tatad died in a hospital of a blood infection brought on by the burns which covered about 55 percent of his body, prosecutors said.

After being doused with the water Tatad ran from the apartment and across the 200 block of Coronado Street where he was wet, half-naked, hysterical and hiding behind a car. An apartment complex maintenance man found him and called for help.

Though he was screaming as his burned skin was "flaking off" Tatad became more frantic as his ex-wife approached, said police. He yelled for officers to keep her away from him and she admitted to scalding him. But as police prepared to handcuff his ex-wife, Tatad reportedly pleaded with an officer not to arrest her.

The roots of the tragedy can be traced back to the couple's fraught relationship. Though he pledged to remarry his ex-wife, and bring their 14- and 9-year-old daughters back from the Philippines, years went by and nothing happened. Instead Ronnie Tatad was seeing another woman and the couple's children remained with relatives.

"He never fulfilled the promise," said May. "But he didn't deserve to die for it."

As part of the plea deal deputy district attorney Morris Maya dropped the other charges, which included torture and mayhem. If convicted on all counts Tatad could have faced at least another decade behind bars.

Jesusa Tatad is being held at the San Mateo County Jail.

Woman stands trial for murder after 'killing her ex-husband by pouring boiling water on him while he was sleeping'

DailyMail.co.uk

July 16, 2012

A woman who is accused of dousing her ex-husband with boiling water because she thought he was seeing another woman will stand trial for murder, torture and mayhem.

Jesusa Tatad, 39, was sharing a tiny 600-square-foot apartment with Ronnie Tatad when she became jealous and attacked him in his sleep, prosecutors say.

Mr Tatad, 36, died two weeks after the assault in November from an infection he contracted while recovering from second and third degree burns over 60 percent of his body.

The couple divorced in 2007 but were still living together in Dale City, California, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Mr Tatad came home from work on November 26 and the couple argued about whether he was seeing another woman, authorities say.

She waited until he went to bed then heated a large pot of water. When it reached boiling point, she pulled back the covers and poured it over his body, according to police.

As he leaped up in pain, she was waiting with a baseball bat and allegedly clubbed him in the head.

A janitor reported seeing Mr Tatad running out of his apartment wearing just a t-shirt and underwear.

The witness said Mr Tatad was screaming in agony and crying for help.

When his wife approached, the witness said, he became even more terrified and shouted 'Stay away from me! Go away!'

When police arrived, skin had begun flaking off his hands in layers.

As he was being taken away, though, he said he didn't want Tatad arrested and added that his 'fiancé is really jealous and is after his ex-wife.'

He was rushed to a burn unit and spent the next two weeks sedated with a tube in his throat, unable to talk.

Police planned to re-interview Mr Tatad about his last statement, though they never got the chance.

He died on December 9 of a bacterial blood infection he contracted because of the massive burns on his body.

Authorities say Jesusa Tatad wasn’t cooking anything prior to the incident and deliberately boiled the water for the attack.

'It wasn’t like she was cooking breakfast,' he added. 'He boiled up that pot of water to pour on him.'

Tatad has been held without bail on charges including murder, aggravated mayhem and torture.

However, her lawyer, John May, seized upon Mr Tatad's final statement and says it casts doubt on whether his ex-wife was actually responsible.

Police say that when an officer at the scene asked Ms Tatad whether she was responsible for the attack, she responded, 'Yes, officer.'

It takes just one second for water over 155 degrees to cause third-degree burns. Hot liquids can cause the same tissue damage as fire, according to the burn center at San Fransisco's St Francis Memorial Hospital.

Last month, a judge in Pennsylvania sentenced a two sisters to two to eight years in prison after they were convicted of using boiling water in a fight with two other women in their apartment complex.

Both victims of the 2010 assault were permanently scarred, one of them disfigured.

Filipino-American Murder Suspect Marks Her Birthday on Christmas Day in Jail

By Joseph G. Lariosa - Journal Group Link International

December 23, 2011

When she was born on Christmas Day in 1971, she was named after Jesus.

But when she celebrates her 40th birthday on Sunday, Jesusa Ursonal Tatad will not be home for Christmas. She will be spending her time inside the San Mateo County Jail Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City, California.

Ms. Tatad is facing murder and five other felony charges for scalding her divorced husband with boiling water while he was sleeping two days after last Thanksgiving on Nov. 26 inside their home in Daly City, California.

Sgt. Michael Barton, Daly Police spokesman, told this reporter over the phone that it was on Saturday, Nov. 26, at about 10:50 a.m. when police got a call that a victim later identified by San Mateo Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti as Ronie Tubalinal Tatad was found outside his residence with serious burns in his body and was immediately transported to a local hospital.

Barton said police investigations later learned that shortly before the incident, Jesusa boiled a pot of water while Ronie was sleeping. Jesusa, then, poured the boiling water on his face and upper part of his body.

When Ronie rushed to the bathroom shower to cool off, Jesusa allegedly hit Ronie with a baseball bat. This prompted Ronie to step out of his house, where a security guard noticed that Ronie “was in distress in great red and great in pain.”

At this point, Jesusa allegedly dissuaded the security guard from calling the police but to no avail.

Not guilty pleas

Attorney Guidotti told this reporter that at the arraignment last Dec. 7, Jesusa pleaded not guilty to felony torture (whose maximum penalty is life term in prison with parole), mayhem (life term with parole), assault with deadly weapon (5 years maximum), domestic violence (5 years maximum) and witness dissuasion (5 years maximum).

Jesusa was not granted bail.

Ronie died in the hospital on Dec. 9. During the court appearance on Dec. 13, a murder charge was added to the charges against Jesusa. Murder calls for 25 years to a life in prison with possibility of parole.

Jesusa will be up for arraignment of the murder charge on Jan. 9, 2012 at 1:30 p.m., when she will make a “plea and hopefully there will be a setting of date for preliminary hearing” at the San Mateo Superior Court in Redwood City, according to Guidotti.

Call placed by this reporter on Jesusa’s court-appointed defense attorney, John K. May, was not returned.

Ronie T. Tatad, a registered nurse, who was said to be having double job, and believed to be a native of Catanduanes province in the Philippines, was working at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco. He has two children with Jesusa, both girls, aged 12 and 7, who are both in the Philippines under the care of Ronie’s relatives in the Philippines.

Police and San Mateo District Attorney sources said, although divorced, Ronie and Jesusa were living together under the same roof. Ronie’s brother and sister are also living with the divorced couple. Other sources said their living arrangement “was for economic reason” since Ronie “had to pay for the house, an alimony and child support.”

Motive for the killing is still being investigated. Reports said that Jesusa was jealous that Ronie was having an affair with another woman although they were already divorced.

Daly City woman faces torture charge, accused of dousing sleeping ex with boiling water

By Joshua Melvin - MercuryNews.com

November 30, 2011

REDWOOD CITY -- A Daly City woman faces a torture charge after dousing her sleeping ex-husband with a pot of boiling water that burned more than 60 percent of his body and clubbing him with a baseball bat, a prosecutor said.

Jesusa Ursonal Tatad was in court Tuesday but didn't enter a plea to the charges. Prosecutors say Tatad became angry when she began to believe her former husband was cheating on her. The pair was still sharing a home in Daly City.

As the man slept on Saturday morning after coming home from his job working a night shift, Tatad, 39, set a pot of water to boil and then poured it on him, said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

He awoke in excruciating pain and ran for the bathroom, where Tatad was waiting for him with a baseball bat, prosecutors said.

She allegedly used the bat to club him in the head.

The ex-husband managed to get out of the home and flagged down a security guard, who called police.

An ambulance rushed the man to San Francisco General Hospital where he was admitted in critical condition.

Wagstaffe said the man has second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body and is unable to speak due to his injuries.

Tatad's arraignment began Monday in San Mateo County Superior Court but was continued to Tuesday due to the lack of a Tagalog interpreter.

If convicted of the charges, which include aggravated mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon and domestic violence as well as torture, she could face life in prison.

She is being held in lieu of $600,000 bail, Wagstaffe said.

Jesusa Tatad

The victim

Ronnie Tatad, 36.