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A man who stabbed a Buena Vista Mobile Home Park resident to death in 2019 has pleaded no contest to multiple violent felonies, including second-degree murder, a Santa Clara County prosecutor said last week.
Isadore Christopher Diaz, 35, entered the no contest plea, — the equivalent of a guilty plea in a criminal trial — in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Nov. 15, just as evidence in his Oct. 30 trial was to begin. A jury had already been selected, Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Malinsky told this publication Dec. 1.
Diaz was arrested on June 27, 2019, for the fatal stabbing of 63-year-old Timothy Wood, who was found by the slain man’s roommate in his Palo Alto trailer home on June 24. Wood later died at a nearby hospital, police said at the time.
Diaz pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, causing great bodily injury and all felonies. He also pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors: brandishing a knife, obstructing or delaying an investigation and battery.
He faces sentencing from 15 years to life to up to 47 years to life in prison, Malinsky said.
“It was a tragedy for the victim and his family and for the other victims in Buena Vista Mobile Home Park. I’m grateful the Palo Alto Police Department did a thorough investigation and I’m grateful for the victim’s family that it is over. It’s been many years for this to come to trial given COVID,” Malinsky said.
Diaz was also a resident of the mobile home park at 3980 El Camino Real in Palo Alto. At the time of his arrest, he was already in Santa Clara County Jail for allegedly beating Buena Vista resident Alan Cochran on the same day as the slaying, Palo Alto police said in a press release at the time.
In July 2019, Superior Court Judge Charles E. Wilson deemed Diaz too dangerous to release on bail. The facts and substantial evidence showed “a presumption of great bodily harm” and releasing Diaz would present a “clear threat” of continued great bodily harm to others, the judge said at the time.
Court records showed that Diaz previously served time in prison for assault and other charges stemming from cases in 2007, 2008 and 2012 in Merced County. He has two prior convictions for assault with a deadly weapon and three convictions for participating in a criminal street gang, among other charges. He was also once shot in the head, according to statements his grandmother gave to police.
On the evening of the murder, surveillance footage showed Diaz walking toward and later away from Wood’s trailer, and then back again shortly after Wood had discarded his trash in a dumpster and returned to his home. Police also recovered bloody clothing and shoes belonging to Diaz.
While police were investigating the incident, Diaz struck mobile home resident Alan Cochran. When Cochran fell down, Diaz kicked him in the face. Cochran required eight stitches, he later told this news organization.
For his assault on Cochran, Diaz was charged with felony battery with serious bodily injury, felony assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury, causing great bodily injury, misdemeanor battery on a person and five counts of having a prior conviction of a violent or serious felony.
Diaz also allegedly struck a third man in the face but that person declined to press charges, according to court documents.
