Caro Adds Insanity Plea to Defense in Sons’ Slayings

Murder suspect Socorro “Cora” Caro amended her not-guilty plea Wednesday to include an insanity defense in the Nov. 22 shooting deaths of her three oldest sons.

The 43-year-old Caro, who stood next to her defense lawyer during the hastily scheduled hearing, burst into tears when asked by prosecutor Cheryl Morgan whether she understood the added plea and its potential consequences.

“Yes,” Caro answered through tears, shielding her face from a riveted crowd gathered in Ventura County Superior Court.

With the new plea, lawyers agreed to postpone her trial until Jan. 8.

After the hearing, Assistant Public Defender Jean Farley told reporters her client has no memory of the night her sons were killed and is suffering from acute depression.

“It is a very complicated situation,” Farley said. “She totally denies the charges and profoundly believes that she never would have hurt her children.”

“She is severely depressed,” Farley said, “and very close to being unable to withstand the rigors of these proceedings.”

Authorities say Caro shot three of her four boys, ages 5, 8 and 11, in the head as they slept at the family’s upscale Santa Rosa Valley home the night of Nov. 22. A fourth child, a toddler, was unharmed.

Caro is facing three counts of murder and a special allegation that she committed multiple murders. The allegation makes her eligible for the death penalty, though prosecutors have not decided whether to seek it.

Caro’s dual plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity means she admits no wrongdoing in the slayings of her children.

She will stand trial for murder, and if convicted face a second proceeding in which the jury would decide whether she was insane at the time of the shootings. Should a jury find she was insane, Caro would be sent to a state mental hospital instead of prison.

Under state law, a defendant cannot be held responsible for a crime if, because of a mental defect, the person was unable to understand the difference between right and wrong.

In coming weeks, two court-appointed psychiatrists will evaluate Caro to determine her mental state at the time of the slayings.

They will look at three factors: whether she was suffering from a mental defect, whether she was capable of understanding the nature of her alleged actions and whether she knew right from wrong.

Farley declined to discuss whether Caro has already been examined by psychiatrists or diagnosed with a mental disorder.

Farley stressed the new plea is a step in the trial process to let everyone know that her client’s mental state will be a significant issue.

“What it does is allow for evidence to be produced regarding the mental status of Socorro at the time of the alleged offense,” said Farley, who has expressed concern about her client’s mental condition for several months.

“My goal,” she said, “is to search for the truth and present it in court.”

According to investigators, Dr. Xavier Caro returned home from his Northridge medical office about 11 p.m. to find his children slain and his wife of 13 years suffering from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

He later filed for divorce and is pursuing a wrongful-death claim against his wife, who had worked at times as his office manager.

Authorities have not suggested a motive for the shootings.

But during the preliminary hearing earlier this year, Cora Caro’s mother testified her daughter had been a victim of domestic abuse--an allegation Xavier Caro has denied through his attorneys.