Police release grisly details of a murder
Report offers a glimpse into the slaying of Shelly Titchener, husband’s suicide
BRISBANE — With his wife’s lifeless body in his hands after a deadly delirium, Paul Titchener planned to join her in death.
But he couldn’t do that without making sure his two adult sons, both in their early 20s, were taken care of. So, according to a police account released Friday, he got on his computer and bought an online template to start drafting a will. He expressed a wish to be cremated, along with his wife, and for their ashes to be scattered in the ocean.
Then he opened up Google Docs and hammered out instructions to his sons on how to pay the mortgage and handle other investments and expenses. He also transferred a large sum of money to his sons’ savings accounts.
But at some point after writing out all those arrangements, he changed his mind. He took the money back out of his sons’ accounts, and instead plotted a murder cover-up.
On Valentine’s Day, he chopped up his wife’s body, stuffed the pieces into duffel bags once used to store his kids’ sports equipment, and tossed them into San Francisco Bay.
The next day, he reported her missing.
For a few days, Paul Titchener tried to play the part of the worried husband, but then Shelly Titchener’s torso washed ashore in Fremont, and while she was not immediately identified, questions about a possible connection to her disappearance unraveled him.
He gave an eerie, evasive interview to a TV reporter, and a few hours later, he drove to the Bay Bridge and jumped to his death — ultimately joining his wife as he originally intended.
This narrative was offered by Brisbane police in an extraordinarily detailed account that for the first time definitively stated their belief that 62-yearold Paul Titchener was the killer.
“The Brisbane Police Department believes that Paul Titchener killed his wife ... either out of remorse or the belief he would be identified as the killer, we believe that Paul intended on committing suicide after the killing,” police said in a statement.
“We believe Paul changed his mind about committing suicide after formulating a plan to dispose of the body and report her missing.”
Police added, “Once Paul became aware that Shelly’s body had been discovered, he followed through with his intention to commit suicide.”
Despite all the machinations of the purported cover-up attempt by Paul Titchener, police asserted that they “do not believe the murder was premeditated.”
Police said they are offering the narrative with the aim of quelling public and media curiosity about the case once and for all.
“It is being provided due to the amount of public interest this tragic case has attracted,” police said. “However, we are sensitive to the effect this case has had on remaining family members. As such, we will not be commenting any further about this case.”
The Titcheners left behind two adult sons who were high school basketball standouts in the area, and who have consistently asked for privacy and declined interview requests.
Detectives from Brisbane and Fremont do not know how 57-year-old Shelly Titchener was killed, noting that no crime scene has ever been determined and that her head and left leg were never recovered.
They contend that “stress surrounding financial issues and Shelly’s alcohol abuse” motivated the killing.
Police also assert that Paul Titchener, a Stanford graduate who ran a small technology company, acted alone and told no one else about his wife’s death.
Police described the Titcheners’ marriage as a rocky one spanning 24 years, with the couple alternately living together and apart.
Shelly Titchener’s abuse of alcohol spurred outbursts and police calls on several occasions. The strain prompted Paul Titchener to file for divorce in 2001, but it was never finalized. About four years ago, he moved back into the family home with the apparent aim to save money for their sons’ education, but that may have created an untenable situation.
“We believe that Paul and Shelly’s living under the same roof put an additional strain on their relationship,” police said.
In the case outline released Friday, police said Shelly Titchener was last seen alive Feb. 12, and that evening had spoken to a friend who described her as sounding intoxicated. An autopsy would later find that she had a 0.22 blood-alcohol concentration, nearly three times the legal limit.
The last time she was heard from came in the form of a recorded Google Voice call with her husband that evening that was recovered by investigators.
The argumentative conversation revolved around his refusal to stay at their San Bruno Avenue home when she was drinking, and at some point, he agreed to bring her a cable for her cellphone. She was never seen again.
The ensuing missingperson investigation was riddled with doubt about Paul Titchener’s statements, both from family members and police.
He typed up a timeline for police and consented to a search of his home, business and cars, but nothing tying him to her disappearance was apparently found.
On Feb. 21, fishermen at the Dumbarton pier in Fremont found a human torso, and over the course of the next couple of days, Fremont police searching the area found her purse and ID in the surrounding marshland. They also found a plastic bag that contained a right leg.
It would be five more days before the partial body found near the pier was formally identified as that of Shelly Titchener. A lowerback tattoo that the sons identified, as well as breast implants that matched her, were found in an autopsy, but absolute certainty did not come until Feb. 28 when Fremont hikers found her arms, which provided a thumbprint authorities would match to her DMV profile on March 2.
The evidence that may have offered the most clarity to detectives were the bags in which Shelly Titchener’s remains were found: two duffel bags that the sons identified as belonging to the family.
A study of water currents for the apparent time of the homicide indicated that the remains were either put into the bay in South San Francisco or dumped directly along the Fremont shoreline.
Some of the last words Paul Titchener directed to his sons, in his draft posthumous instructions to them, alluded to his apparent intentions.
Among the instructions: Call the Social Security office and “tell them we have both passed away.”