Lawyer calls Santa Rosa slaying 'rage overkill'

<p>A lawyer for a Santa Rosa man accused of stabbing his children’s mother 68 times and stashing her body in a toy box called the act “rage overkill” and not murder, acts committed by someone suffering mental illness and hallucinations, not by a calculated killer bent on torture.</p><p>In closing arguments in the trial of Honorio Pantaleon, 31, defense attorney Jeff Mitchell didn’t dispute that his client killed Patricia Barrales, 26, but said it was an impulsive act brought on by a condition that made Pantaleon prone to “explosive and unexplained violence.” </p><p>Mitchell said the killing wasn’t premeditated and asked jurors to find him not guilty of first-degree murder with the special torture allegation that could bring life in prison without parole if convicted.</p><p>“This is not a person who was weighing and considering his actions,” Mitchell said. “This is a person who is explosive. He came home and went off.”</p><p>Prosecutors countered in their closing that Pantaleon’s use of multiple knives and the fact that he closed the door to the room where he attacked Barrales were proof of a deliberate act. </p><p>Deputy District Attorney Tashawn Sanders said Pantaleon made up stories about hearing voices and having delusions to try to excuse himself from the crime. She said he killed Barrales because he knew she was leaving him with their kids to live with her mother, whom he hated.</p><p>“This is a defendant who knew exactly what he was doing,” Sanders said.</p><p>Now, Pantaleon’s fate is in the hands of jurors, who will begin deliberations today after 17 days of trial. A second sanity phase could begin if a guilty verdict is announced.</p><p>Pantaleon is charged with first-degree murder for the Mother’s Day 2008 killing of Barrales in their Rincon Valley apartment. Their children, ages 2 and 4, were believed to be home at the time.</p><p>Prosecutors allege Pantaleon tortured Barrales as revenge for trying to leave him. She had cuts over most of her body and an eight-inch kitchen knife was found buried in her eye.</p><p>Pantaleon also is charged with attempting to murder Barrales’ mother, Isabel Barrales. Prosecutors said he walked into her Ukiah house with a rifle two days after the killing and tried to shoot her, but the gun wouldn’t fire. He hit her with it and fled.</p><p>He has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.</p><p>Pantaleon’s oldest son, Victor, said on closed-circuit TV that he saw his father pull a “sword” from his pants, stab his mother in the stomach and close the door to the bedroom. </p><p>He emerged about 15 minutes later, covered in blood, the boy said.You can reach Staff WriterPaul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.</p>