Porterville, CA: Porterville police ID man, woman in murder-suicide

Posted at 11:10 AM on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010
Bethany Clough / The Fresno Bee



Porterville police have identified the man and woman whose bodies were found Friday night in an apartment, along with three small children.
Michael Vasquez, 26, is suspected of shooting Cheanna Sidhu, 24, police said. The preliminary investigation shows that Vasquez and Sidhu, who were married, had had some type of argument.
Police said evidence at the crime scene showed that Vasquez shot Sidhu once, killing her instantly, before turning the firearm on himself. He died at the scene from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Detectives are still trying to determine a motive for the killing, but have not ruled out a domestic violence incident.

The three children, ages 6, 5 and 2, who were found in the apartment are in good condition and are in protective custody with Tulare County Child Welfare Services, police said.
2:00 p.m.: A biohazard label on the door handle of a third-floor apartment at the Porterville Family Apartments is the only indication that the apartment was the scene of a murder-suicide.
Police have not released the names of the man and woman whose bodies were found inside, both dead with a gunshot wound to the head.
Several neighbors said a young couple, who were mostly likely in their 20s, moved into the low-income Porterville Family Apartments in recent weeks. Their apartment has a balcony overlooking a playground.
Stella Sink, who lives down the hall from the apartment where the bodies were discovered, said she poked her head out of her door last night when she heard a man yelling "Someone call 911!" from the apartment. She had previously heard some type of noise but couldn't determine what it was. The man went back into the apartment, and she later heard him yell the same thing from inside the apartment.
Sink said she thought the situation had been resolved. She said she did not hear any gunshots.
The next time she opened her door, she saw a police officer and a firefighter opening the couple's door and smoke pouring out.
"As soon as they opened the door, they pulled the kids out," she said. Three children, ages 6, 5 and 2, were found inside. Burning food on the stove was producing smoke that had set off fire alarms.
Several neighbors said fire alarms sound frequently in the apartment complex, which is south of downtown Porterville.
Another neighbor, Allen Sisimon, said he heard the man raise his voice Friday evening but had not hear the couple fight before.
Officials at the complex decline to be interviewed.
Firefighters discovered three children alone with food burning on the stove as two adults lay dead from a murder-suicide in Porterville Friday night.
The Porterville Fire Department discovered the children while responding to a fire alarm at 93 East Date Avenue at 9:37 p.m. They found smoke flowing underneath the door and the three children, ages 2, 5 and 6, inside, according to Porterville Police.
A man and woman were dead in the apartment, each from a single gunshot wound to the head, police said.
They were not identified and police did not say which adult was the shooter.
The children were taken to Sierra View District Hospital for precautionary reasons and were determined to be in good condition. They were later placed in protective custody with the Tulare County Child Welfare Services.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Sgt. Dominic Barteau at the Porterville Police Department Investigations Division at (559) 782-7400 or (559) 782-7419.