E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSView more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.
A South Florida man strangled his two young sons with a rope at his estranged wife’s house and then used a gun to shoot one of the boys several times before he shot himself to death, authorities said Saturday afternoon.
Police say Isidro Zavala, 45, early Saturday went to the Boynton Beach home of his wife with the intention of killing her and their children, Eduardo Zavala, 12, and Mario Zavala, 11.
At the crime scene, detectives found a blue bag with a second firearm, extra ammunition, duct tape, cutting shears and a note addressed to Zavala's oldest son, who was not at the residence during the killings, police said.
Isidro Zavala carried out his plan, but with an exception: He spared his wife, Victoria Flores Zavala, 36, so that she could suffer, police said.
“What Mrs. Zavala had to go through -- watch her children killed before her -- is probably the most horrific thing you could ever imagine, at least for me,” said Boynton Beach Police Chief G. Matthew Immler, saying that he himself is a parent.
The motive for the killing "is just speculation at this point," Immler said.
Victoria Flores Zavala contacted police, who arrived at her house in the 400 block of Southwest Eighth Avenue about 1:50 a.m. Saturday.
Officers found one child dead in a back screened patio area. A second child was found dead in the kitchen dining room area. Officers found Isidro Zavala’s body in the kitchen, police said.
Victoria Zavala said that her husband killed their children, police said. She said she and her husband had been separated and that he no longer lived in the house.
She told detectives that she was watching TV when she heard commotion in the house, went to check on her children and saw Isidro Zavala choking one of his sons, police said.
Then he killed them. Mario was the boy who was shot repeatedly, police said. The mother had tried to stop her spouse.
“She tried fighting him off and begged him to kill her and not the children,” Boynton Beach police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater said in a press release. “He told her she was going to stay alive and suffer the loss of them.”
Detectives obtained a warrant to search the house, as well as a house in the 1100 block of Southeast Third Street, where Isidro Zavala had been living, police said.
The Zavalas have a 19-year-old son who does not live with his family and was not there when the killings occurred, police said. The note found at the crime scene addressed to him said something to the effect that "he was a good son," police said.
Detectives have called the state Department of Children and Families to investigate. “It should be noted that there is no history of reports of domestic violence or abuse noted at the house,” Slater said.
The Zavala couple married in 1993, records show. In 1999, the pair signed a $73,700 mortgage on the home where the killings occurred, Palm Beach County records show.
In October last year, Victoria Flores Zavala filed for divorce from her husband in Palm Beach County, a case that records showed was still listed as pending.
Immler called Saturday's case "an unusually brutal type of murder," but said such murder-suicide cases unfortunately have been known to happen.
"And certainly I’ve seen it over the years of being a police officer, that there are mentally disturbed people out there who commit these types against their own family members, against their own loved ones," he said.
The police chief turned his attention to the surviving Zavalas.
"Hopefully, as time passes, perhaps their wounds will heal. I doubt it," he said. "You know, I don’t believe you could ever recover from something like this.
"Hopefully, the surviving Zavalas can get the help they need and somehow go on with life."
Leave a Comment:
The motive is unknown? What kind of idiotic statement is that? There can be no motive, this guy was evil.
How come nobody is up in arms about all the rope violence in this story? When are we going to start into rope control discussions? The government must act now!
/sarcasm
What is this a fad now? kill your family then kill yourself. RIP Eduardo and Mario.
They once were drawn to each other to have three kids. How could a typical florida family couple end up in such odd bloodlust? The police didn't say the child victims had a history of being abused either. To help society better understand why this happens, a dna test to see if the kids are bioligical offspring of the parents involved in this murder suicide incident. This is very strange news.
What? That might be the most useless suggestion in the history of the the nbcnews comments section...and that is saying a lot....
Tim-874396: your value methodology is a joke. Without for wanting to spend more time, that is saying a little. Tyvm for your post respond.
Tim-874396
This article didn't say a lot of things; as for DNA tests for a 19 year old, 12 year old and 11 year old; what is your point? He just found out that these kids were all not his? He supposedly left a note for the oldest, saying he was a good son. So; what if they were not his? Just kill them off? Very strange, indeed.
This just takes my breath away. I need to stop reading the news.
My question is why didnt the mom stab the dad.. If she was tied up and forced to watch i can see how it was out of her control. But the article said she was in the other room, heard a commotion and saw her ex chocking her son... I would have ran in the kitchen and grabbed a knife and stabbed the ex husband. Not just scream and hit him...
Her first response was to get him off the child she saw he was strangling. Hindsight is forsight; the first instinct would be to stop the attack before the child was certainly dead.
wft has the republicans and dems have to do with this ??? lol.....anyway, i wonder if they were illegals or muslims? wouldn't surprise me
Eduardo, Victoria, Maria, Isidro - don't sound too "muslim" to me.
But you're probably right - "legal", christian people doesn't do horrible things to each other every day.
illegal cubans? fyi..mostly all dems down there in south Fl... if you want to visit a foreign country without leaving the country then try Miami... just know spanish
Linda 2119823;
Just had to throw your hatred for Muslims into this. You are the reason for the low regard people in Europe have for this country; your superior attitude spouting hatred for people who have nothing to do with the people involved.
By the way, ret-1954751; did you ever hear the expression "Miami blonde?". That phrase was coined for all the bleached-blonde, wealthy Jewish woman who retired in Miami.
The racial makeup of population of South Florida [5,334,685] as of 2010:[30]
What a sadistic coward! How could one person be full of so much hatred that he kills his own children just to hurt the mother. This story made me sick to my stomach.
Hmm so when are we banning rope ? I mean it kills kids right ?
Just another hispanic male who feels that his machismo has been violated and the only solution of course is to kill everyone. Pretty typical.
OMG! What a sad story. Poor babies.....poor mom!
woooowee! what category DSM does this fall under? Stephen King syndrome? Alfred Hitchcock sadism? or just plain old "i'm in control and you better believe it!" syndrome? (even if im dead) maybe its some shred of Spanish DNA (remember Pizzaro?) that keeps re-surfacing in later generations, eh who knows.
Guns + Mental Illness = Senseless Murder.
mental illness = murder regardless of the weapon type used... you forget he used a rope to strangle the kids first, then shot (probably the kid was already deceased) one of the kids...or did you forget that or it doesn't play into your anti-gun stance...
do we need to ban rope also...
NO LAW on the books will stop ANYONE intent on committing a crime like this, now if she had a weapon of some sort (you fill in the some sort) to stop him other than shouting and pleading...
then you need the motivation to use said weapon...
Naw....we don't need no gun control.
This crap happens every minute in every nook and cranny across America.
Time to rethink the ole' "Right to Bear Arms". The crazies will kill us all. The nuts, the vets, the PTSD'ers, the jilted husbands, the basic angry white guys, the angry black guys, the angry "I can't get my way" guys.....you name it....they're slowly, daily, hourly, killing off anyone weaker than them (and they got guns so everyone is weaker than them), anyone innocent or helpless and the so called good guys with a gun are no where to be found. Imagine that.
don't forget to include women who drown their kids, women who run their philandering husband down with the family car, cheerleader killer moms, etc....we do have women in prison for murder as well...men don't have a monopoly on murder...
What part of "strangulation" did you think involved a gun? You see, Angel, if one actually reads the story than one can properly direct their standard rant at whatever they hate. In this case you got the man part right and the gun part wrong. Batting .500 is good in MLB, bad in comments...
There is no way I would not have fought and kept fighting the estranged husband unless I was dead and I wouldn't have needed a gun.
I will die for my 19 and 20 year son's before I let someone kill them, ANYONE!
Were they legal? My bet is none of them spoke English and I bet they were on the dole! You run into these people that have been here 20yrs and still do not speak English but they seem to know every loop hole in every law we have. They also seem to know how tocollect tax refunds they do not deserve and get free medical and food. Try going to Mexico and get the same treatment--oh hyea its a 5 yr prison term if you are illegal in ole Mexico
Wow...What a bunch of absolute bigots this country has become. The land of the melting pot where all are to be given the same respect and rights. Now just because people in an article have Spanish names, all these assumptions about them come out; nasty to say the least. Did you read that they signed for a mortgage on their house back in 1999? So; you think that any old bank is just going to lend this money without a credit check? Apparently they have been paying the mortgage, or they would not still be in the house.
Jesus
Never, EVER underestimate the DEPRAVITY of your fellow man. Yes, humans are capable of great acts of sacrifice or kindness, but after reading a story like this, well this just cancels all that out. Be nature we are truly a vile and depraved species.
To bad she did not have a hand gun to defend here kids .
No but she had a whole kitchen.
....if it isn't a black killing someone...it's an hispanic...............
Not sure which race is more violent which is a factual request.
Sure you will view this as racist but it is not as 74.8% of the entire US male prison population is black whereas the black male population percentage is only 6.3%. You can do the math.
That is why 99% of serial killers and 90% of domestic terrorists are white males. Moron.
Another poor, innocent gun is a caught hanging out in the wrong croud.
.
Now if kids from the age of 5 were allowed to have guns, this would not have happened. Attention Gun Makers. start making guns for the younger gun-slingers, like MINI_MAGNUMs.
saying prayers that God, Friends and family will comfort this family.... i have a log cabin in the state of missouri and im wondering why no one is paying attention to the fact that all the stores are out of ammunition!!!! ive been to every walmart within 100 miles of where i live and the shelves are empty....
Backlash good for this men to seek justice!!
Child support must end it is not the responsibility of anyone to take care of a child not in there care, if the women can't support the child, she is the dead beat, stop robbing the man - give him the child.
Backlash 50 years of women raising sissy's for boys.
Backlash, 50 years of stealing the child from the men.
Backlash 50 years of men being persecuted for Domestic Violence when it is proven by the FBI women start 50% of all domestic Violence.
Women, lie, cheat and steal to get the kids and the courts not only allow it they promote it, this is one men seeking justice in a system with no justice.
the truth you will not like it - you obviously never met my ex-husband. Not only has he done all of the things you describe, but he is now a personal investment counselor and I'm betting he is ripping off a whole lot of people just like Bernie Madoff did. You obviously have a big anger issue against some woman. As for my ex-husband, in spite of all the rotten, evil things he did to me, I feel sorry for him. No wonder he has no friends.
Men should never be prevented from caring for children if they have the ways and means to do it. Violence only begets violence....Those kids never had a chance.