Cherry Ave. homicide alarms its residents
Murder victim and suspect lived in house for years
By Kate Carter
Neighbors living near the location of last week's suspected murder-suicide attempt in Willow Glen weren't too surprised by trouble at the home which had a history of problems, but they were surprised that those problems turned violent.
However, one neighbor said that during the past few months she had seen growing signs of anger in one of the residents, who had always been pleasant previously.
San Jose Police Department (SJPD) officials don't yet know the motive in the April 16 incident, in which Duane Simmons was murdered by crossbow. The suspect, Simmons' roommate of several years, 47-year-old Richard McPherson, allegedly later tried to take his own life by slashing his wrists and forearms with a knife at the home, located on Cherry Avenue just south of Koch Lane.
Police also suspect McPherson, known as "Rick," of assaulting his two female roommates before killing Simmons.
A third roommate told The Willow Glen Resident that he had left the home "seconds before" the killing occurred, after the women refused his request to call the police.
SJPD spokesman Sgt. Steve Dixon said police responded to a 2:23 p.m. call by one of the women at the residence, who said that someone had been killed and that someone had cut his wrists. Upon arrival, police found the two female residents, one hysterical, who had walked out of the home with obvious injuries from being beaten and possibly hit with a blunt object like a kitchen pot, he said. Police also spotted a body lying prone on the back patio.
Officers entered the home and found McPherson with severe knife wounds to his wrists and forearms, apparently self-inflicted, Dixon said. He said McPherson appeared to have moved around the house quite a bit and was bleeding profusely.
"He almost did die," Dixon said. "He was losing that much blood."
Police carried McPherson out of the house and he was taken by ambulance to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he was booked for murder and assault with a deadly weapon into the hospital's jail ward, Dixon said. Once he recovers from his injuries, he will be taken to Santa Clara County Jail, Dixon said.
The two women were also taken by ambulance to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and were released later that evening, he said.
Dixon said police suspect McPherson of attacking his female roommates before going after Simmons with a crossbow that McPherson owned. They don't yet know why he did it, however.
"Something apparently set him off," Dixon said. "We don't know if he tried [to kill himself] all along. We can't pinpoint anything. It was just a strange circumstance."
The five individuals shared the house in a quiet neighborhood in southern Willow Glen, an area that, according to residents, gets a lot of pedestrian traffic and where neighbors get to know each other while working in their yards. Aside from vehicles speeding down Cherry Avenue, they say, the neighborhood's only problem is the house in which the alleged murder took place. Neighbors weren't fearful of the residents, only bothered by the constant stream of new residents, their habit of burning rubbish, not cleaning up the yard, drinking excessively and generally not conforming to the attractive and neighborly atmosphere of the area.
On the grey, windy morning following the incident, Cherry Avenue residents were recovering and conferring with one another after the police cars, ambulances, news stations and other lookers-on had departed. None of the residents wanted to be identified, but they were willing to talk about their impressions of the home.
One of the home's next-door neighbors, who asked to remain anonymous, said he had known Simmons and McPherson for several years and talked to them occasionally. The home, which Dixon said is owned by Simmons' parents, was generally run by Simmons, who rented out rooms to other individuals. The neighbor said McPherson was Simmons' most constant roommate and that other people would come and go so much that he never knew exactly who else lived there.
"These people kind of looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. They weren't troublesome, just the byproduct of many people living there," the neighbor said. "They liked to drink their booze, but who cares?"
However, a couple of months ago, activity at the house slowed down, the neighbor said. The neighbor spoke with McPherson about a month ago, who said that he and Simmons were making changes in renters, a "transition." The neighbor also said that McPherson had been out of work for a few months, and that McPherson said once that Simmons hadn't paid the water bill, which forced them to use the pool water in the house. McPherson was the resident who tended to do most of the home's maintenance, the neighbor said.
Neighbors said the residents in the home were never threatening and always reasonable when approached about cleaning up the yard or improving their behavior. But that attitude rarely translated into an actual change in behavior, they said.
One of the residents across the street from the house said Simmons was usually a pleasant person. But lately, the neighbor said, Simmons had been yelling at individuals outside the home who parked in front of the house. That behavior was unusual, the neighbor said.
Dixon also said that and afternoon less than a week before the incident, Simmons called police to the house to help him get rid of two people outside of the house with whom he was arguing. Dixon said the individuals weren't residents of the house and they left without incident. Dixon also said one of the men in the house had a warrant out for a "very minor" incident and was arrested at that time, but none of that seemed related to the April 16 incident.
"There are people out there--we call them 'timebombs.' Some of them just go off," Dixon said. "I think there are probably a whole lot more out there, more than we know" because they receive the help they need to avoid going off. "There's just one house in every neighborhood. Even in good neighborhoods it's not unusual."
The homicide is the seventh of the year for San Jose, a city known for its safety, averaging only about 20 homicides a year over the past few years, Dixon said.
To provide information in the case, call Detective Sgts. Mark McInich, Ed Bettencourt or Will Manion, at 408.277.5283. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers, 408.947.STOP.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
