Inset: Joseph Vicencio (San Jose Police). Background: San Jose, California, police investigate a triple homicide allegedly carried out by Vicencio (KTVU).
A 27-year-old man in California is facing accusations of killing a woman and two others to stop her from testifying that he strangled her days before the triple homicide, allegedly saying he “couldn’t have loose ends and people talking about him,” according to the police.
Joseph Vicencio is said to have murdered 26-year-old Tarrah Lynn Taylor, her 24-year-old roommate Jeannessa Lurie, and 26-year-old Max Ryan in San Jose. Police revealed in a press release that they received multiple calls shortly before 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday reporting gunshots and a woman screaming for help on the 200 block of Chynoweth Avenue.
Upon arrival, officers discovered a woman outside with at least one gunshot wound. She was transported to the hospital but was pronounced dead. Inside the home, they found a deceased female and a man who was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Vicencio was arrested on Wednesday.
According to an affidavit obtained by local Fox affiliate KTVU, Taylor contacted San Jose police on Monday — hours before the killings — to report Vicencio had assaulted her by punching and strangling her the previous day. Police noted signs of strangulation on Taylor’s neck. Lurie also reportedly confirmed witnessing the domestic violence.
However, police did not arrest Vicencio, and he allegedly returned to the home early Tuesday morning to commit the murders. Surveillance footage reportedly captured Vicencio fleeing the scene with a “unique satchel” that he later tossed into a sewer. Police retrieved the bag, which contained the alleged murder weapon.
Investigators spoke with a witness who reportedly said the suspect had told them that he “might be in trouble” for assaulting Taylor and he “couldn’t have loose ends and people talking about him.” The witness told Vicencio that if he was thinking about killing anyone “not to do it,” the affidavit reportedly said. After the killings, the witness said Vicencio used their computer to “search for information about murders in San Jose.”
Another witness reportedly told cops that when they confronted Vicencio about the murders he claimed he had “an issue with a male at the apartment but he handled it.”
The affidavit did not detail the exact relationship between Vicencio and Taylor but described the initial attack as domestic violence.
Local ABC affiliate KGO reports that Vicencio has an extensive criminal history dating back years. In 2019, he was accused of shooting at the Martin Luther King Jr. library and parking garage at San Jose State University. His father told the San Jose Mercury News at that his son had a “fascination with guns” and mental health problems.
Vicencio is next slated to appear in court on Oct. 24. He remains in jail.
