Man suspected in Palo Alto stabbing death already was in custody

PALO ALTO >> A man suspected in the stabbing death of a man in his 60s on Monday already was in custody for another crime when police arrested him on suspicion of murder, authorities said.

Police arrested 31-yearold Isadore Christopher Diaz of Palo Alto late Monday at his residence in the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park for an alleged assault, then determined he was also the suspect in a homicide at the park. Authorities have not identified the victim in the killing.

According to police, the dead man’s roommate came home to the mobile home in the 3900 block of El Camino Real around 6:53 p.m. to find him with more than one stab wound to the chest. An ambulance took him to the hospital, but the man died there from his injuries, police said.

About two hours later, another man in his 60s approached a police officer at the scene of the death investigation and reported that he had been punched and knocked down as he walked through the mobile home park. That man suffered moderate injuries to his mouth and went to a hospital to receive treatment, police said.

Police identified Diaz as the suspect in the battery and found him at his own home in the same mobile home park later Monday. They arrested him without incident on suspicion of felony battery causing serious injury and misdemeanor being under the influence of a controlled substance, police said.

Detectives did not connect Diaz to the other man’s death until they and crime scene investigators processed the death scene. By Wednesday, police said, investigators had tied Diaz to that death and identified him as a suspect.

They obtained a search warrant for Diaz’s home on Wednesday night and found more evidence linking him to the killing. An arrest warrant came next, and authorities booked him on suspicion of murder around 4:30 a.m. Thursday while Diaz was in custody at the Santa Clara County Main Jail.

Police asked anyone with information about either case to call its 24-hour dispatch center at 650-3292413.

Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voicemail to 650383-8984.

Tips also can be submitted anonymously through the free mobile app, downloadable at bit.ly/papdappstore or bit.ly/papdgoogleplay.