26.2.09

Father bashes wife to death in front of 3 children

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Sabrina Silva murder update

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NEW VIDEO / ADDITIONAL PHOTOS (PAGE 2)

MCSO: Kids were home; rode to hospital

Story and photos by Jamie Nash / Video by Scott J. Engle
February 26, 2009
EAST MONTGOMERY COUNTY- After three days of collecting evidence at the Splendora home where Jose Israel Garcia-Ticas is charged with administering a fatal beating to his wife Sabrina Silva, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators finished the tedious task on Wednesday.
The single-wide mobile home in the 14500 block of Three S, a dead-end street, looks as though it has been empty for some time. Less than a week ago, a family of five lived there. Now the wife is dead, the husband is in jail and their three small children are with strangers. Garcia-Ticas told investigators a simple argument led to the beating that killed Silva, who was already deceased when they and their children arrived at Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital in Houston in the early morning hours of Monday, according to MCSO Lt. Bill Bucks.
“She had signs of a beating, literally, from head to toe,” Bucks said. “Some of the bruising was in different stages of healing; some of it was very fresh; she had head trauma,” Bucks said.
Investigators have learned the couple had an “on-again off-again” relationship, and only recently reconciled. They moved from Houston to the Splendora residence with their children, all age six and under, just eight days prior to Silva’s death.
“It appears that the kids were in the house at the time of the beating, but the extent of what they saw or heard is not known yet,” he said. “The children are still being interviewed.”

To view on-scene video, click the arrow below; to read more, scroll down

Bucks said the children showed no signs of physical abuse.
Garcia-Ticas allowed LBJ staff to remove Silva from the pickup, took the children to a family member’s house, and immediately returned to the hospital.
Child Protective Services placed the children, two girls and a boy, in foster care and will determine where they go from there.
Since early Monday, investigators have removed, bagged, and documented pieces of the crime scene. Bucks said there were unusual factors that made the process a lengthy one.
“Based on the amount of blood and evidence that’s in the house, and the location – it’s not all confined to one room - it’s taken three days of solid evidence collection,” Bucks said.
The next step will also be time consuming.
“Just to process it initially and get it sent off to the state for evaluation will take weeks,” Bucks said. “The (evidence) we send off will take months to come back.”
Silva’s autopsy was performed at the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office on Tuesday, the same day the Montgomery County Jail roster showed Garcia-Ticas’ bond was set at $400,000.
Jamie Nash can be reached at jnash@montgomerycountynews.net

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MCSO: Kids were home; rode to hospital

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