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Online petition asking for a new trial at:
<http://kola-hq.hypermart.net/actcaro.htm>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The FERNANDO EROS CARO Case
PART 6 - BACKGROUND

ADOLESCENCE / YOUNG ADULTHOOD
 

Throughout his school, Fernando Eros Caro worked
earnestly to do his best, and meet his responsibilities at
home. Although he was a big, strapping student who was
sought after by his high school coach, he missed the first
year of high school football because he did not return in time
from their summer months of farm labor. His uncle, who
was fond of the boy and felt sorry for him because of the
constant abuse he endured at home, gave him an old beaten-up
1951 Chevy so he could drive back and forth to school and
work, and also make football practice. Within no time at all,
Fernando's father had taken the boy's car, and wrecked it when
he tried to drive it drunk.

Fernando had only one or two close friends in high school. His
work left him no opportunity to socialize and learn the skills of
becoming a young adult. He had no time because of work and
school obligations to date other students, and he remained a
naive youngster despite his academic accomplishments and
physical maturity. None of his family remember him being
excited or happy about his future prospects. Instead, they
describe him as silent, sad, and withdrawn.

He graduated high school in 1968. Fernando was in the first
year of a program to recruit Mexican Americans into San Diego
State University, and he received a grant designated for indigent
minority college students. Twelve shy, rural Mexican American
students were recruited from high schools to attend SDSU under
this program. Supervised by a white professor, they were assigned
segregated housing in a few rooms of an old dormitory. It was the
first time Fernando was away from his family and the fields he
had worked since childhood. Nothing had prepared him for college
and its demands, and it overwhelmed him.

His mother remembers: "What did I know about college. No one
in my family had ever graduated high school much less college.
I didn't know how hard it would be for him."

Fernando found college extremely difficult. He had chosen one of
the most difficult areas of study, engineering, and quickly found that
his high school education in Brawley left him poorly prepared to
compete with other college students. Most of the course material
was over his head and required twice as much study as he saw
other students expending for better grades. His learning disability
made course work even more difficult and he was overwhelmed by
the task he faced.

The Mexican American students recruited in the affirmative action
program found themselves isolated, ridiculed, and excluded from
much of the social and academic life on campus.

During his first year, Fernando was seduced by a more experienced
student three years his senior. He became entirely dependent on
her and dated her for the next three years. Depression plagued him
during his college years, as it had his high school years, and he
forced himself to try to participate in activities at the university.
Many times though, he was unable to overcome the lethargic
exhaustion he felt, and he withdrew from those around him.
Family members report that he continued to keep to himself,
and did not express his feelings or participate in family affairs.
His girlfriend ended their relationship, and he was devastated.
His grades declined dramatically and he began failing classes,
unable to focus and maintain his concentration. Although he felt
he understood his course work, he was unable to retain it. He
was unable to sleep, and began to have hallucinations and other
symptoms. He lost contact with reality and had periods of psychosis.
He was unable to progress through the academic program as
planned.

Although he knew he was "losing it" and "falling apart", he
believed that he could not seek psychiatric or mental health
treatment as a Mexican American and Yaqui. He believed instead
that he had to develop incredible internal strength to overcome
these increasing periods of confusion, memory loss, and auditory
hallucinations.

At a family wedding, he met Rosalind Duran and became
infatuated with her. They began dating and she agreed to marry
him, but she then called off the wedding because she was also
seeing someone else. Accounts vary, but at one point he took her
from her home in San Jose back with him to his appartment in San
Diego, where they pretended to be married. She threatened to
end the relationship with him several times, but finally agreed
to marriage.

Fernando joined the U.S. Marine Corps, ROTC Unit, at his university
in his third year of college, and earned money for college expenses
in this service. He had been unable to maintain both a part-time
job and manage course studies. In his fifth year of college, he
failed almost all his subjects, and withdrew from college. He was
accepted into the U.S. Marine Corps Officer's Candidate School,
and later commissioned as a second lieutenant. Although his
family was disappointed that he withdrew from college, they were
extremely proud that he was an officer in the U.S. military.

Fernando and Rosalind lived in Pensacola, Florida, during military
training, but their marriage was rocky and chaotic. She threatened
to leave him continuously, and finally returned home to her parents
after she learned she was pregnant. He could not suffer the loss
and attempted suicide. Rosalind returned to him, but detested
her marriage.

Their first child, Daniel, was born soon after they were married.
They were miserable, and Rosalind remembers that she never
told Fernando that she loved him. After training, Fernando Caro
was transferred to Camp Pendleton in California, but his marriage
was as unhappy and unsuccessful there as it had been in Florida.
The couple had two more children, Isabel and Jesse. Fernando
grew more despondent and withdrawn. On one occasion, she
remembers that she found him lying unconscious on the kitchen
floor. When he regained consciousness, he had no memory of
when or why he had passed out. Their marriage deteriorated,
and there were long periods when they did not speak.

Fernando's military career was marked by race discrimination,
as others with less ability were promoted over him. He grew
more sensitive to discriminatory practices and treatment by
his superiors and fellow officers. He had crippling headaches
that lasted for days. He was afraid to report the severity of his
headaches out of fear that this would be used against him in his
work assignments, and it would be a sign of weakness. He grew
increasingly anxious, and unable to deal with the stress of being
an officer in the Marine Corps.

In 1976, he was arrested and convicted of kidnapping a woman
hitchhiker. He was sentenced to two years in the state prison,
and released in 1978. During his incarceration, Rosalind decided
to divorce him. Upon his release, he returned first to Brawley and
San Diego for a few weeks, and then moved to Fresno where he
began working with his brother at FMC, a corporation that
manufactured pesticides.

He met Cathy Lozano and they began living together soon after.
During their short relationship, Cathy continuously threatened to
leave him, left him several times, and returned to him. He drank
sporadically and his mood became more depressed. Cathy and
his sister talked with him about the possible need for mental health
treatment. He told Cathy he did not want to keep working around
the chemicals at FMC and began to apply for other jobs. Chronic
headaches plagued him. In August of 1980, their relationship
disintegrated and Cathy left him. He became immobilized and
unable to think of anything but her return.

On August 20, 1980, after Fernando had worked at FMC for
approximately two years, Mark Hatcher and Mary Booher were
killed. On the same day, two individuals, Jack Lucchesi and
Rick Donner, were assaulted by a gunman who attempted to
evade them after a hit and run accident. Fernando Eros Caro
was charged with these crimes. He was arrested for the murder
of Mary Booher and Mark Hatcher on August 25, 1980.
 

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