Both sides agree Pantaleon killed, but was it murder?

<p>Opening statements came Thursday in the trial of a Santa Rosa man accused of stabbing to death the mother of his two children in their Rincon Valley apartment and stashing her body in a plastic toy box.</p><p>Honorio Victor Pantaleon, 31, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and other crimes including torture that could bring him life in prison if he is convicted in the slaying of Patricia Barrales, 25, on Mother's Day in 2008.</p><p>Deputy District Attorney Tashawn Sanders told the seven-woman, five-man jury there would be plenty of evidence to justify a guilty verdict. Among other things, she said she would show that Pantaleon's sock was soaked in Barrales' blood and that his fingerprints were on the handle of a knife left buried in her eye. Detectives said she was stabbed a total of 68 times. </p><p>Testimony would show Pantaleon killed Barrales when he learned she was planning to leave him and his actions were a “willful, deliberate, intentional and premeditated” way to stop her, Sanders said.</p><p>Pantaleon's lawyer, Jeff Mitchell, conceded his client killed Barrales but said he would prove it wasn't a calculated act. Instead, Pantaleon was under the influence of drugs and suffering from increasing mental instability, Mitchell said, and psychologists would testify about it.</p><p>On the night of the killing, Pantaleon had been drinking and came home to see Barrales' packed suitcases by the door, Mitchell said.</p><p>“He was like a powder keg waiting to go off,” Mitchell said. “He only needed one spark.”</p><p>He has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity in a rare dual plea.</p><p>Pantaleon, an exconvict and three-time deportee, sat expressionless through most of Thursday's proceedings, which he followed on headphones with the help of a language interpreter.</p><p>In addition to the murder allegation, he's accused of attempting to shoot his mother-in-law in Ukiah after the slaying, two counts of felony child endangerment and burglary.</p><p>His oldest son, who was four at the time of the killing and believed to be present in the apartment, could testify at trial, which is expected to run to Dec. 15.</p><p>Before opening statements, the two sides argued over the admissibility of graphic photographs depicting Barrales' injuries. </p><p>Judge Ken Gnoss ruled certain pictures such as one of a neck wound extending to the spine would be excluded because they were “extremely prejudicial” or happened after Barrales was dead.</p><p>Other photos could be shown if they are cropped beforehand, the judge said.</p><p>Mitchell asked that jurors be instructed not to speculate about why the photos were cropped.</p>