BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A Kern County jury has found Rafael Estrada was sane when he slit his wife’s throat at her parents’ home in east Bakersfield, then led responding deputies on a vehicle chase that ended miles away with him resisting arrest as he was taken into custody in a church parking lot.
The jury’s decision on Wednesday means Estrada will be sent to prison, not a mental health facility.
Last month, the jury deadlocked on a murder charge but found Estrada guilty of other felony counts, including child abuse. Sentencing is set for Sept. 18.
The prosecution could retry him on the murder count. A hearing on whether he’ll be retried is also scheduled Sept. 18.
Estrada killed Taylor Estrada, 32, in May of last year. She’d wanted a divorce and had been staying at her parents’ house on Monterey Street with her four children, two of whom witnessed the killing.
Rafael Estrada showed up at the house uninvited and argued about taking the son he and Taylor Estrada shared in common home with him.
While in a back bedroom, he pulled a pocketknife and stabbed his wife in the throat. Blood poured from the wound and she died at the scene.
Rafael Estrada got in a pickup and led deputies on a chase that ended about 10 miles away in the parking lot of a church in the 9900 block of Ramos Avenue, off Taft Highway. He exited the pickup and was taken into custody after struggling against deputies.
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