Signs of a Psychopath is examining the murder of Geoward Eustaquio by his mother-in-law, Cynthia Cdebaca, at their home in Fallbrook, Southern California.
On the morning of February 11, 2014, Eustaquio’s neighbors became aware of a series of gunshots emanating from his home, and they heard a man calling, “help me, help me.” After 911 dispatchers received up to five calls from concerned neighbors, the police quickly descended on the usually quiet gated community.
When the cops entered the home of Eustaquio, they found the 53-year-old lying dead on his kitchen floor, and he had been shot a shocking 15 times.
The detectives learned that Eustaquio’s 66-year-old mother-in-law Cynthia Cdebaca lived at the premises, and they concluded that she would need to be interviewed. They finally located her in a coffee shop near the house on the evening of the shooting.
When questioned, Cdebaca admitted that she had shot her son-in-law and showed zero remorse. She implied to the detectives that she would happily kill him again.
During the interview, she claimed that Eustaquio was abusive towards her and the rest of the family, so she killed him. She said he would try to trip her up and had choked her daughter and grandson. She added: “He was so mean to everybody. Even his own family.”
Cdebaca also told the detectives: “The only thing I could do, kill him, kill him, Goddamn. So evil. I never, never have once didn’t hurt anybody. I love everybody, you know? I tried to love him. No.” She then rejoiced when the cops confirmed to her that her son-in-law had died from the wounds, repeatedly shouting “good, good.”
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelCdebaca had suffered a stroke in 2001, not long after her husband had passed away, which led to her moving into a “granny flat” with her daughter and husband, Eustacquio. However, in 2014, that arrangement ended in murder.
Cynthia Cdebaca shot Geoward Eustacquio 15 times
The police surmised that on the morning of the murder, Eustacquio had made a snide comment to Cdebaca about her clothing, which led to her retrieving her .38 caliber 5-shot revolver from her room.
She then fired all five shots into her victim before reloading and shooting him another five times. She then reloaded again and shot him another five times. She then spent the rest of the day eating at a restaurant and gambling at a casino.
Cdebaca would later end up in front of a jury where her lawyer argued that she had “snapped” and should be convicted of manslaughter. However, the jury disagreed and convicted her of first-degree murder; she was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
More from Signs of a Psychopath
Follow the links to read about more murderers who exhibited signs of a psychopath.
Jennifer Pan shocked Canada’s courts when they learned she had hired hitmen to kill her parents, Bich and Hann Pan. Her father, Hann, survived the attack, but her mother, Bich, perished from her wounds. The reason she had them killed? Pan had found her parents too overbearing.
Lisa Underwood and her 7-year-old son Jayden were brutally murdered at their home in Fort Worth, Texas. The killer was her boyfriend, Stephen Barbee, and he killed them because he was worried about having to pay child support for Underwood’s unborn child.
Signs of a Psychopath airs at 10:30/9:30 on Investigation Discovery.