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Jurors must decide if teen who killed neighbor with car did it on purpose
San Jose Mercury News ^ | 02 Apr 12 | Tracey Kaplan

Posted on 04/03/2012 2:36:48 AM PDT by blueplum

No one disputes who killed San Jose resident Donna Fife -- not even the teenager who slammed his beige Honda Civic into her so hard her neighbors said they heard a sickening thud.

What jurors will have to decide is whether the young man, Richard Delgado, killed the popular matriarch in 2009 intentionally.

Delgado, now a short, skinny 23-year-old with a shaved head and thin mustache, is charged with one count of murder. As the first day of Delgado's long-awaited trial got under way Monday afternoon, Fife's still grief-stricken husband of 25 years, Mark, clutched his sister-in-law's hand, and about 10 other friends and relatives also choked back tears.

[snip]

Three years later, Mark Fife is still struggling in the aftermath of his wife's death. He has put most of his time and effort into remodeling their three-bedroom house, using hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds from her insurance policy. He said he's trying to make the house the way she would have liked it, adding marble floors and a garden because she loved to plant things. He even installed a big, deep bathtub for two.

Why invest so much in a home memorial?

After Donna died, Mark said he found the following note:

{snip}

Then, on a separate page, she added a line responsible for his devotion to fixing up their house: "Please, since you didn't do it while I was here, clean the house as my last wish."

(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: crime; delgado; donnafife
what a love story
1 posted on 04/03/2012 2:36:55 AM PDT by blueplum
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To: blueplum

Um... how did she know she was going to die? Or did she leave the note lying around “just in case”? Is that a common thing for people to do, if they are not expecting to die?


2 posted on 04/03/2012 3:16:33 AM PDT by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
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To: exDemMom
"Um... how did she know she was going to die?"

Ummmm -- we're all going to die! Nobody gets out of here alive!

I don't know how common it is, but my mother and more recently my late aunt both left notes around in various places. Both died of natural causes. I'd guess it's not uncommon.

3 posted on 04/03/2012 3:34:11 AM PDT by Sooth2222 ("Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But I repeat myself." M.Twain)
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To: exDemMom
"Mark, I love you, always carry that with you. Thank you for all the years. Love to my brother and sister, dad, nieces, nephews, Amanda and my aunts and uncle. Put my ashes at (Lake) Almanor and Lassen." Then, on a separate page, she added a line responsible for his devotion to fixing up their house: "Please, since you didn't do it while I was here, clean the house as my last wish."

P.S. At least take out the trash.

4 posted on 04/03/2012 4:47:36 AM PDT by 6SJ7 (Meh.)
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To: 6SJ7

P.S.S. That includes the moron who hit me...


5 posted on 04/03/2012 4:56:08 AM PDT by Amberdawn
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To: blueplum

He wasn’t a bad driver, he was a DRUNK driver.

And why on earth did it take 3 years to bring this to trial?


6 posted on 04/03/2012 5:06:58 AM PDT by jocon307
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To: exDemMom

Either it’s weird that she would leave her last wishes and final goodbye lying around or the reporter is doing a crap job of explaining the story so that it is better understood for the readers.


7 posted on 04/03/2012 5:11:45 AM PDT by submarinerswife (Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, while expecting different results~Einstein)
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To: blueplum

Another white hispanic maybe?


8 posted on 04/03/2012 5:42:29 AM PDT by golf lover (going)
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To: exDemMom

I don’t know if it’s common, but it is not uncommon either, to leave a note of last wishes and remembrances even if you’re not expecting to die. Lots of people write wills and include a personal letter with it as well.


9 posted on 04/03/2012 9:56:31 AM PDT by Valpal1
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