A decade ago, a young mother of two was stabbed to death outside work. Her husband is suspected of killing her because she wanted a divorce. He is now believed to be hiding somewhere in Mexico.
BY DAWN HOBBS Esther Bueno Taboada couldn't wait for that Saturday to come — the day she was to graduate from Westmont College. Two weeks earlier, the 26-year-old mother of two had moved out of her house to get away from her allegedly abusive husband. She finally mustered enough strength to tell him she wanted a divorce. Esther planned to find a new place for herself and her daughters. With her diploma in hand, she'd look for a higher-paying job. Esther and the girls would finally have a happy life. But she didn't make it to graduation on Feb. 29, 1992. She was killed the night before. Police suspect her husband, Mario Soto Taboada. Esther got off about 8:30 p.m. from Sears, where she worked as a credit clerk. She walked toward her car in the parking lot of La Cumbre Plaza, where her 33-year-old husband was waiting. She sat in his truck only minutes — then he pulled out a knife and stabbed her in the neck, police say. Esther staggered across the parking lot toward the automotive center, holding her neck and moaning. Several employees ran to help. She cried out, "My husband did this to me!" She then collapsed, bleeding profusely from the neck. Esther died minutes later. Teachers and friends of Esther's 9-year-old daughter, Angelica, who attended Isla Vista School, started a fund to help pay for her mom's funeral. "Angelica helped me pick out the dress for her mom and the coffin for her mom -- it was so hard for me," Esther's mother, Geronima Bueno, said through tears. Mrs. Bueno suspects her daughter's husband killed her because she wanted a divorce. A close friend of Esther's explained to Angelica what happened to her mother. But they kept it from 3-year-old Vanessa. "This was domestic violence at its worst," said Santa Barbara Police Sgt. Armando Martel, who was the lead detective on the case. "The kids were instantly orphaned because their mother was killed and their father fled to Mexico. He even made threats he was going to come back and get the kids. The only thing that saved this whole thing was the Bueno family." Police obtained an arrest warrant for the suspect and searched his Goleta house that night but did not find him. The following evening a relative of Esther's spotted the suspect's white 1987 Toyota pickup in the 200 block of West Arrellaga Street and notified police. When he didn't return, officers seized the truck for evidence. Police found blood splattered across the front seat. "Mario left the same night," said Mrs. Bueno. Police believe he fled south of the border. This is one of six homicide cases in Santa Barbara in which the suspect is likely in Mexico. In 1997, Santa Barbara Police Detective Roger Aceves went to Mexico with an arrest warrant for murder, but could not locate Mr. Taboada. Retrieving a fugitive from Mexico isn't easy. The Mexican government does not extradite in death penalty cases. But more frequently, the lack of cooperation is attributed to corruption among Mexican law enforcement and to not viewing domestic violence as a crime, according to numerous detectives. "We're continuing to try to overcome barriers which are primarily government based in Mexico," said Detective Tim Roberts, who with Detective Greg Wilkins, oversees the department's new Cold Case Unit. A picture of Esther with her girls still hangs in the living room of the Bueno's home. They occasionally watch a video of their mother at Westmont College. The family still hasn't received Esther's diploma — which upsets her mother to this day. For the most part, the girls didn't talk much about their mother. "When Vanessa would ask questions, Angelica would tell her to be quiet because she didn't want to talk about it," Mrs. Bueno. "It was so hard." The girls, who both look like their mother, went to counseling for several years. Vanessa, now 13, was finally told what happened to her mother just last year. She's still living with her grandmother. Angelica lives in Lompoc with her boyfriend and two children. Mrs. Bueno said her daughter was married to Mario Soto Taboada for 10 years, but she wasn't aware of problems until about two years before she was killed. "She probably wouldn't tell me until it got really bad," Mrs. Bueno said. "He used to tell her a lot of bad things and even throw her down from the bed." Mrs. Bueno said her daughter confided that her husband would tell her he was going to kill her. Mrs. Bueno said she thinks about her daughter all the time. Esther would have been 36 this year. "It's still pretty hard for me," she said. "When I think about her, I just say that if she would have left him earlier this probably wouldn't have happened. ... I will feel better when he is arrested. He has to go to jail. I'm very mad. This is just taking so long."
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