A San Juan Capistrano man accused of stabbing his estranged wife to death at their home allegedly believed she had a date lined up with another man during the Valentine’s Day weekend, prosecutors said on Thursday, Feb. 19, while announcing a murder charge against him.
Stephen Anthony Demora, 62, was charged with murder with an enhancement for personal use of a knife, said Kimberly Edds, a spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
He faces 26 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged.
Prosecutors say Demora stabbed Debora Jean Demora, 59, in the garage of the home in the 26000 block of Laurelwood Lane.
Orange County sheriff’s deputies went to the home about 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14, after receiving a call from a woman who said her brother-in-law had called and told her he had “killed his wife with a knife,” Edds said.
When deputies arrived, Edds said, Stephen Demora was walking out of the home with blood on his face and body.
Inside the garage, deputies found Debora Demora in a pool of blood.
The couple had been married for 30 years but estranged for the past 10, she said. They continued living in the home together.
“This is a tragedy on so many levels that a relationship that stretched over so many decades could erupt in such brutality on a day meant to celebrate love,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement.
Stephen Demora was taken to a hospital for treatment of self-inflicted injuries before he was booked into jail. He was being held on $1 million bail, Edds said.