Spiked sandwich weapon in death plot
By Mary Moreno
San Antonio Express-News
Web Posted : 06/06/2003 12:00 AM
Jose Guadalupe Perez thought he and his wife of 22 years had made up after they argued last week when she accused him of having an affair.
Beatriz Perez even made him a tuna sandwich.
The following morning, on May 30, Jose Perez's 15-year-old daughter, Marlen, noticed he looked groggy and couldn't focus.
When Perez, 41, still was mumbling incoherently that evening, the teenager recruited some friends to take him to University Hospital, where he was treated and released.
Beatriz Perez, 43, still was in Bexar County Jail on Thursday in lieu of $25,000 bond on a charge of attempted murder, accused of lacing the tuna sandwich with eight pills of Ativan, a sedative prescribed to treat anxiety.
"I ground up the pills and put them in Lupe's sandwich because I wanted to kill him," she told police, according to an affidavit.
She also reportedly told police she'd tried to kill her husband two years before using three Ativan pills.
"All he did was sleep all day," the affidavit quotes her as saying.
"She added that is why she used eight pills this time believing this was a sufficient amount to kill him," it says.
According to the AccessMedNet Web site, Ativan overdoses rarely are fatal but can depress breathing and cause stupor.
Jose Perez didn't want to comment Thursday, but according to the affidavit he told police his wife offered him the sandwich "after a peaceful conversation about putting the past behind them."
The Perezes have three children.
Ernest Perez, 22, said his mother has attempted suicide several times, but has refused counseling, even when her family urged her to get help.
The younger Perez said he plans to get a job to bail his mother out of jail.
"Nobody wants their mother in jail," he said.
By Mary Moreno
San Antonio Express-News
Web Posted : 06/06/2003 12:00 AM
Jose Guadalupe Perez thought he and his wife of 22 years had made up after they argued last week when she accused him of having an affair.
Beatriz Perez even made him a tuna sandwich.
The following morning, on May 30, Jose Perez's 15-year-old daughter, Marlen, noticed he looked groggy and couldn't focus.
When Perez, 41, still was mumbling incoherently that evening, the teenager recruited some friends to take him to University Hospital, where he was treated and released.
Beatriz Perez, 43, still was in Bexar County Jail on Thursday in lieu of $25,000 bond on a charge of attempted murder, accused of lacing the tuna sandwich with eight pills of Ativan, a sedative prescribed to treat anxiety.
"I ground up the pills and put them in Lupe's sandwich because I wanted to kill him," she told police, according to an affidavit.
She also reportedly told police she'd tried to kill her husband two years before using three Ativan pills.
"All he did was sleep all day," the affidavit quotes her as saying.
"She added that is why she used eight pills this time believing this was a sufficient amount to kill him," it says.
According to the AccessMedNet Web site, Ativan overdoses rarely are fatal but can depress breathing and cause stupor.
Jose Perez didn't want to comment Thursday, but according to the affidavit he told police his wife offered him the sandwich "after a peaceful conversation about putting the past behind them."
The Perezes have three children.
Ernest Perez, 22, said his mother has attempted suicide several times, but has refused counseling, even when her family urged her to get help.
The younger Perez said he plans to get a job to bail his mother out of jail.
"Nobody wants their mother in jail," he said.
