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Jason
Victor BAUTISTA
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Parricide - Cutting
off her head and hands
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder:
January 15, 2003
Date of arrest: 9 days after
Date of birth: 1983
Victim profile: Jane Marie Bautista, 41 (his
mentally ill mother)
Method of murder:
Strangulation
Location: Riverside, California, USA
Status:
Sentenced to serve 25 years to life in prison on April 8, 2005
Son sentenced to 25 years for mother's murder
North County Times
April 9, 2005
A 22-year-old
man convicted of brutally killing his mentally ill mother, and then
cutting off her head and hands, was sentenced Friday to serve 25 years
to life in prison.
Jason Bautista was convicted Feb. 4 of first-degree
murder in the slaying of Jane Bautista, 41, who was killed on Jan. 14,
2003.
Last-minute events delayed but did not halt
Friday's sentencing. Bautista first missed his bus to court, then
attempted to fire his court-appointed attorney.
Separately, a juror filed an affidavit saying she
had changed her mind about her decision to convict for first-degree
murder. She said the circumstances of the mother-son relationship,
when they came to light, pointed toward a manslaughter charge, not
murder.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank Fasel
flatly rejected both Bautista's motion and the juror's change of heart.
"The jury got it right: first-degree murder. There
is no (provision to allow for juror) remorse," said Fasel, according
to KCAL9.
Bautista then chose to address the court.
"I'm very sorry for all my actions, your honor, but
it wasn't a first-degree murder in my opinion," Bautista told the
judge, according to the television station.
The judge asked back, "Is that it?" and hearing
that it was, sentenced the defendant to 25 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors said Bautista, a graduate of Paloma
Valley High School in Menifee, cut off his mother's head and hands to
keep investigators from identifying her. The body was found dumped in
the mountains off Ortega Highway.
The killing occurred in Riverside, but Orange
County prosecutors took over the case because the body was found in
Orange County.
Bautista, according to prosecutors, got the idea to
cut off his mother's head and hands from an episode of HBO's gritty
mob drama "The Sopranos."
The Riverside resident admitted killing his mother,
but claimed it was an act of "accidental self-defense" after she put
him in a "life-threatening situation" by coming at him with a knife.
Bautista's thumbprint, however, was found on his
mother's throat, and her face was badly beaten, KCAL reported.
Bautista, a one-time biochemistry student at Cal
State San Bernardino, testified that after his mother was dead, he cut
off her head and hands to hide her identity.
The head and hands were later found in a duffel bag
in the family's Riverside home.
Bautista testified that his mother became abusive
as her paranoia and mental illness got worse.
Assistant Public Defender Don Ronaldson told jurors
that the abuse Bautista endured included beatings, taunts, threats
with a knife and beatings with sticks and clubs, one of which resulted
in a visit to an emergency room.
The mother's paranoia left the family homeless at
times, as she believed neighbors turned against her, he said.
About three months before her death, the mother had
been relatively OK, but then got worse, and the young man could no
longer tolerate it, Ronaldson said.
Prosecutors argued that her erratic behavior
cramped her son's lifestyle, and that he wanted to get rid of her.
Bautista's half-brother, Matthew Montejo, who was
15 years old when his mother was slain, testified for the prosecution,
saying he did not help kill his mother, but helped dispose of her body.
He pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder
and was sentenced to the 749 days he had already been in jail, and
then freed.
Man who dismembered mom cites
'Sopranos'
Woman’s head, hands cut off in
son’s bid to conceal murder
Associated Press
April 9, 2005
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A
judge imposed a sentence of 25 years to life in prison Friday for a
man who killed his mother and then dismembered her in an attempt to
conceal her identity, which he said he learned from “The Sopranos.”
Jason Bautista, 22, was convicted
of first-degree murder in February in Orange County Superior Court.
Bautista testified during his trial
that he killed Jane Bautista in 2003 in “accidental self-defense.” He
claimed she had lunged at him with a knife and he strangled her while
he had her in a headlock as they struggled over the weapon.
Jason Bautista testified that
because he did not think authorities would believe the killing was in
self-defense, he cut off his mother’s head and hands in hopes of
preventing her body from being identified. He told jurors he learned
how to conceal a victim’s identity in that manner by watching HBO’s
“The Sopranos.”
The defense claimed Jane Bautista,
41, physically and emotionally abused Jason and his half brother,
Matthew Montejo.
Montejo, 17, pleaded guilty to
accessory to murder after the fact for helping his half brother
dispose of the body along a rural Orange County road. He has been
released from juvenile.
Brother testifies for,
against brother in murder trial
Associated Press
January 26,
2005
SANTA ANA ---- A
teenager who testified that his brother killed and decapitated their
mother has taken on another role in the trial ---- a witness for the
defense. Matthew Montejo, 17, had finished testifying against his
brother, Jason Victor Bautista, when the defense called him back to
the stand Monday in the murder trial.
Montejo told jurors
that their mother, Jane Bautista, had subjected Jason Bautista, 22, to
years of beatings, threats and other abuse.
"We were both scared
of her," Montejo said. "She said she would kill us any time we said we
were going to call the police.
Bautista is accused of
strangling Jane Bautista and dismembering her in their Moreno Valley
apartment then dumping her torso off the Ortega Highway in Orange
County. His lawyer has said he killed his mother in a rage over the
abuse.
Bautista, who attended
Paloma Valley High School in Menifee, allegedly told police he got the
idea to decapitate the woman to prevent identification from an episode
of his the mafia-themed television show "The Sopranos."
Both brothers were
charged with murder and conspiracy. Montejo has said under questioning
by Jason Bautista's attorney that he agreed to testify for the
prosecution to get a lighter sentence.
Montejo testified last
week that his brother mentioned killing their mother at least a year
before her death, and that he intended to start an argument with her
so he could claim self-defense.
Half brothers charged with
dismembering mother; prosecutors to try teen as adult
January 29, 2003
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Prosecutors
filed murder charges
against two half brothers Tuesday and said the 15-year-old
would be
tried as an adult in the gruesome slaying of his mother,
who was
dismembered the way the sons allegedly saw it done on "The
Sopranos."
Jason Bautista, 20, and Matthew
Montejo, 15, are charged with
killing Jane Bautista, 41, whose head and hands were found
in the
family's apartment in Riverside. Her body was found in an
Orange
County ravine.
The elder brother allegedly told
police they dismembered the
body to throw off investigators, an idea they saw on the
popular
mob show.
Both defendants appeared in Superior
Court but did not enter a
plea. Their arraignment was postponed until Feb. 14.
Deputy District Attorney Michael
Murray said prosecutors had not
yet decided whether to seek the death penalty against
Bautista.
California law prohibits the execution of minors.
Prosecutors have not disclosed a
possible motive.
John Kremmer, a lawyer who
represents Bautista, said the family
was troubled by abuse but declined to provide details.
"They had a very tumultuous
relationship," Kremmer said
outside court about the mother and sons. "All I can say is
things
aren't always as they might seem."
Prosecutors intend to try Montejo as
an adult under a juvenile
crime law that allows them to make that decision in serious
crimes
without the approval of a judge, said Michelle Emard, a
spokeswoman
for the district attorney's office.
Montejo's attorney, Stephen Klarich,
said he would seek to have
Montejo tried in Juvenile Court. He and Kremmer both
declined
comment about a possible connection to "The Sopranos."
Authorities described the mother and
sons as transients who had
moved repeatedly and depended on financial help from family
members
and Jason Bautista's job as a hotel clerk. Jane Bautista
was unemployed.
Her first husband committed suicide
19 years ago and her second
husband had left her, sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.
The killing took place Jan. 14 in
Riverside. An autopsy
indicated Bautista was strangled but authorities were
awaiting the
results of further tests.
Teen
accused of dismembering mother to be tried as adult
Arraignment delayed in 'Sopranos'-style slaying
January 28,
2003
SANTA
ANA, California (CNN) --A 15-year-old boy who, along with his half brother is
accused of killing and dismembering their mother, will be tried as an
adult, Orange County's district attorney's office said Tuesday.
The district attorney charged Matthew Benjamin Montejo,
15, and his half-brother, Jason Bautista, 20, with one count of murder
in the killing of their mother, Jane Marie Bautista, 41. Bail has been
set at $1 million.
The brothers' arraignment, originally set for Tuesday,
was moved to February 14 on the request of their defense attorneys,
who said they need more time to review evidence and research the case.
According to one investigator, Jason Bautista said an
episode of HBO's "The Sopranos" gave them the idea for the
dismemberment.
Police refused to say where Jane M. Bautista, 41, was
killed but said a preliminary autopsy showed she was strangled. Her
head and hands were found in the apartment she shared with her sons in
Riverside, east of Los Angeles.
The family, originally from Illinois, moved to
California six years ago and had moved into the Riverside apartment
about six months ago, according to a report by The Associated Press.
Authorities said Bautista was killed and dismembered
January 14. The sons allegedly tried to dump her body in the city of
Oceanside the next day, but a security guard spotted them so they
ended up throwing the body in an Orange County ravine, officials said.
The guard gave police the license number of Jason Bautista's car.
Jason Bautista was arrested at California State
University in San Bernardino on January 24, according to the AP. He
allegedly told investigators he and his brother lived with their mom
but they hadn't seen her for weeks, but soon confessed.
Investigators said the brothers decapitated the body
because they believed it would remove any identifying information
marks.
CNN.com
Police:
Dismemberment had 'Sopranos' inspiration
Monday,
January 27, 2003
RIVERSIDE, California (AP) --Two young men killed their mother and tried to cover
their tracks by chopping off her head and hands the way they saw it
done on "The Sopranos," authorities said Monday.
Jason Bautista, 20, and his 15-year-old half brother,
who was not identified because of his age, were arrested over the
weekend for investigation of murder, Sheriff Michael Carona said.
Carona refused to say where Jane M. Bautista, 41, was
killed but said a preliminary autopsy showed she was strangled. Her
head and hands were found in the apartment she shared with her sons in
Riverside, east of Los Angeles.
"I don't know what motive you could possibly give for
killing your mother," Carona said.
The family, originally from Illinois, moved to
California six years ago and had moved into the Riverside apartment
about six months ago.
According to the sheriff, Bautista was killed and
dismembered January 14. The sons allegedly tried to dump her body in
Oceanside the next day, but were spotted by a security guard and ended
up throwing the body in an Orange County ravine. The guard gave police
the license number of Jason Bautista's car.
Jason Bautista, a desk clerk at a Holiday Inn in
Ontario, was arrested at California State University in San Bernardino
on January 24. He allegedly told investigators he and his brother
lived with their mom but they hadn't seen her for weeks, but soon
confessed.
"Bautista also told investigators he had seen an
episode of 'The Sopranos' where he saw the same type of dismemberment
that had been done before dumping a body," Carona said.
The brothers did this, he said, because they believed
it would "take away any identifying information that law enforcement
could use."
Arraignment for the two was scheduled for Tuesday.
