Opening statements read in former UC Davis student stabbing trial
The 2023 stabbings rocked the City of Davis, an otherwise peaceful college town.
Dominguez is being charged with murder, attempted murder, and unlawful use of a deadly weapon.
The trial finally began after Dominguez was formerly found to be mentally unfit to stand trial and sent to Atascadero State Hospital for treatment. He has since been deemed competent for trial.
Dominguez is being charged with murder, attempted murder, and unlawful use of a deadly weapon.
The opening statements revealed several new and important details to the 18-member jury.
The prosecution says the first victim, David Breaux, was stabbed 31 times, and a new leather knife sheath located near his body. Breaux was found sitting upright on a bench, but the prosecution says most of Breaux's stab wounds were on his back, which is inconsistent with that position.
We also learned the second victim, UC Davis student Karim Abou Najm, was stabbed 52 times, mostly in the vital portions of the body. Photographs revealed several stab wounds around his heart. The prosecution also said a nearby doctor heard the victim screaming, ran out to help, and saw the defendant ride away on Najm's bike.
The third victim, Kimberlee Guillory, an unhoused woman, was allegedly stabbed twice through her tent.
The prosecution also alleges the suspect was caught after a resident reported him to law enforcement. When officials allegedly closed in on him, they asked to see his hands and found a bloody knife in his backpack.
The prosecutors also detail how they believe Dominguez purchased the deadly weapon.
'He searches on Amazon on his account for a combat knife, hunting knife, and a combat knife, and he makes a selection of a double-edged dagger that he purchases.'
The defense claims the El Salvador-born former honor student and athlete began to have symptoms of schizophrenia after his first year at UC Davis. His attorney said he believed he was being directed by supernatural beings.
The defense told the court that his ex-girlfriend allegedly claimed he became withdrawn, and told friends he was hearing voices, and co-workers say he stopped showing up to his job.
'What is not in dispute is that Dominguez did the physical act that caused the deaths of David Breaux, Kareem Abu Najam and injured Kimberly Gilbert,' the defense attorney says. 'The question that will be presented to you is, what was Carlos Reales Dominguez's specific intent and mental state when he did those physical acts, and what was happening in his mind? The evidence will show that it was a mind that had been devastated by severe and debilitating mental disease.'
While in the hospital, he was forced to take medication.
The defense attorney says Dominguez's symptoms are less pronounced but still present.
Several witnesses also shared more details about the murder of David Bureau.
The first witness was David Breaux's sister, Anne Maria Breaux. She testified that her brother, known as 'compassion guy' was a Stanford University graduate, former high school teacher, and case manager for at-risk youth in Los Angeles. He struggled with depression, moved to the City of Davis in 2009, and became unhoused in 2018.
Ian Haliburton, an ornithologist and former UC Davis Graduate student, and Aiden Reynolds, a current UC Davis Student, testified that they were monitoring birds in Central Park when they discovered Breaux's body.
The court also heard from several law enforcement officials who were on the scene when the bureau's body was discovered.
'The exterior of his clothing had notable puncture marks on the upper torso area of his body, there was a saturation around those puncture marks that was red in color, it appeared to be blood,' Detective Alex Torres with the Davis Police Department testified.
The detective also noted that Breaux was wearing four layers of clothing on his upper body, which he says is notable because of how deeply the knife cut through the garments and punctured the body.
Torres also says he found two items near the body- a blanket and a leather knife sheath.
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