Eight dead in Goleta California rampage

Saturday, February 4, 2006

Map highlighting Santa Barbara County, California

Jennifer San Marco allegedly shot and killed herself, as well as an ex-neighbor and six postal workers at the Santa Barbara Processing and Distribution Center in Goleta, California says Santa Barbara County Sheriffs department. Authorities say that Marco believed that she was threatened by a conspiracy among the workers at the facility.

Sheriff Sergeant Erik Raney has said that Marco apparently left writings in her New Mexico desert home "alluding to a vague plot involving the mail-sorting plant, a local medical facility and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. She obviously felt that the post office was out to get her in one way or another," he said. "That establishes as good of a motive (for the killings) as we can determine at this point."

Raney said that the writings were described to him as "ramblings," but Raney says, "they alluded to a conspiracy."

In her home, investigators also found a check payable to 'cash' with the notation "will," which could indicate that Marco left a will, "and that may shed more light on what's happened here," said Raney.

Marco has a history of mental illness, but was still able to purchase a firearm and ammunition from Ace Pawn and Antiques, owned by Paul Castillo.

Castillo said, "she (Marco) bought the gun for $325.00 without saying why she needed the weapon. She filled out an application for a background check, which didn't turn up any problems, and picked up the gun two days later."

Sources