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Man Who Killed Wife Visited Children Before Suicide

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By VALERIE KALFRIN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 7, 2007

TAMPA - Some time after his wife was killed but before turning a gun on himself, Humberto Cruz sought out his children to tell them he loved them, his daughter said.

It was about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when Deborah Garcia, one of his seven children, got a call from her sister in South Carolina. Their 65-year-old father had phoned her but "wasn't sounding good," Garcia, 28, recounted Thursday.

Then Cruz suddenly dropped by the house where Garcia, her 10-year-old daughter and Cruz's youngest children - 4-year-old Katherine and 8-year-old Rosalyn - were visiting a friend. He hugged and kissed them, "telling us that he loved us and all that stuff," Garcia said.

When she asked what was wrong, he didn't answer. "He just said what he had to say and left," Garcia said.
Tampa police responded to Cruz's house at 204 W. Flora St. about 7 p.m. Tuesday to find Cruz's wife, Mindrey Rodriguez-Sanchez, 30, fatally shot just inside the doorway. Investigators say they discovered Cruz dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound about 7 a.m. Wednesday, lying in the grass along the riverbank on North River Shore Drive. Police say Cruz killed his wife Tuesday evening.

The river was one of his favorite places, Garcia said Thursday, sitting on the sofa at her father's house as her children, nieces and nephews played nearby. Her mother and sister arrived from South Carolina that morning.

"We're all in shock about it," Garcia said.

Cruz and Rodriguez-Sanchez's daughters are staying with Rodriguez-Sanchez's sister in Tampa, she said. They and the other young children in the family have not been told what happened.

"When they ask, we're just going to say there was an accident," Garcia said. "When they get older, of course, they'll find out the truth."

On Thursday, a brother-in-law of Rodriguez-Sanchez said she was an "excellent" person and that the family is grieving. "It is not the time to comment on what happened," Nelson Rodriguez said.

Cruz recently told his first wife and adult children that he had been diagnosed with cancer, Garcia said.

A retired watchmaker and security guard, Cruz lived in Tampa for about 20 years. He and Rodriguez-Sanchez met in Cuba during one of his trips to visit relatives and were married about nine years, Garcia said.

His adult children were apprehensive about the relationship because of the age difference, Garcia said. But "he was really in love with her," she said. "Everything he did, he did for her."

In September, Tampa police charged Cruz with misdemeanor domestic battery. A police report states the couple was divorcing and that Rodriguez-Sanchez said Cruz had grabbed her around the neck during an argument.

Garcia doesn't believe that account. "He really was not a violent person," she said.

Garcia said the couple separated months ago because Rodriguez-Sanchez "wasn't happy" and had been dating another man. They had talked about reconciling, she said.

Police said Rodriguez-Sanchez, who had moved into an apartment, was visiting Cruz when she was killed.

After her father's surprise visit Tuesday evening, Garcia said, she was frightened to see police cars at his house when she went to drop off his children. She quickly drove them and her daughter to another relative's house, then returned to learn Rodriguez-Sanchez was dead.

"I told the detective, if you don't find him, he's going to kill himself. He has a conscience," Garcia said.

Reporter Chris Echegaray contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at vkalfrin@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7800.

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