3 Knives, 2 Electric Saws Found With Bodies of Mother, Boy

Homicide detectives continued their investigation Wednesday into the apparent suicide of a 41-year-old Mira Mesa woman who stabbed her 5-year-old son to death before taking her own life.

The tragedy occurred Tuesday at the family home, in the 1200 block of Dalby Place. Police arrived about 7 p.m., after Robert Church, 51, Carolyn Church’s husband, ran to a neighbor’s home yelling that he had been stabbed by his wife.

Church told police that his wife had locked herself in the laundry room with their son, Bobby, and that she had a knife.

Waited an Hour, Then Broke In

Police Sgt. Mike Gibbs said police surrounded the house for about an hour while officers and a SWAT team tried to talk the woman into surrendering.

Finally, when she failed to respond, the SWAT team broke down the laundry room door and found the mother and child dead with stab wounds.

“It was one heck of a mess in there,” Gibbs said, adding that near the bodies police found a butcher knife, a butter knife, an electrical saber saw, a hand-held saber saw and another knife.

The Churches were estranged, and the father had custody of the son, police spokesman Bill Robinson said. “She apparently had some mental problems.”

A neighbor who wished to remain anonymous said the father and son were very close but declined to say too much about the mother.

“I hate to be too derogatory,” he said, “but I will say that at times Carolyn would introduce herself as Valentine.”

Gibbs said police have had several conflicts with Carolyn Church, mostly over traffic violations.

“Our understanding of this lady is that she does not respond the same as most normal people do.”

Ran Red Lights Often

She frequently drove through red lights, then tried to flee police, Gibbs said. When she was caught, she at times responded “somewhat lucidly” and other times was “unintelligible,” he said.

A few times last year, police responded to the Churches’ home on complaints of domestic violence, Gibbs said, adding that, during one of those quarrels, Carolyn Church reportedly pistol-whipped her husband.