In 1989, 3-year-old Carmina Salcido’s life changed completely. On a cool, spring day, Carmina Salcido became a life-long survivor.
In April of 1989, Ramon Salcido’s life was in complete shambles.
He was about to lose his job at the Grand Cru Winery in Sonoma County, California. He had been caught routinely stealing wine from the Winery, despite receiving monthly gifts of wine, and reselling it in order to fund his cocaine habit. His professional life was a disaster, and his personal life wasn’t doing much better.
At home, Salcido bullied, abused, and controlled his wife, Angela, to unbearable degrees. Fed up, she’d indicated to him that she was preparing to leave. She wanted out. She wanted to be independent. Salcido was enraged by the very notion.
From the early days of their marriage, the couple had encountered financial difficulties. These difficulties were not made any easier with the birth of their three daughters – Sofía, Carmina, and Teresa. When the stress piled up, Salcido took it out on his family. He was especially nasty in regards to Sofía, whom he didn’t believe was his biological daughter.
In the course of her preparation to leave, Angela also discovered that Salcido had never divorced his 2nd wife, Angela being his 3rd. While Salcido had separated from his 2nd wife, the divorce was never finalized. Said wife had managed to track him down, and had obtained a court order insisting he pay $511 a month in child support, as well as $5,807 in backpay to the Social Service Department of Fresno County, so that the sum could be turned over to her.
Angela wanted to distance herself, and her daughters, from Salcido’s financial, psychological, and physical abuse. She knew she needed to get away, or it would only get worse. She had no idea just how right she was.
Angela had married Salcido when she was young in 1984. Despite everything her malicious husband threw at her, she took care of herself. When she was approached by a couple of modelling agencies, she saw this as her chance. Salcido, however, only saw red. He viewed Angela as his property – and he didn’t want any other man looking at what belonged to him.
Salcido accused Angela of being unfaithful; of straying when her duty was to stay home. He controlled her every move, forbidding her from even going grocery shopping alone. He would check on her multiple times during the day to make sure she stayed home, which did not do his tenuous employment situation any favours.
Ramon Salcido’s life was beginning to slip out of his control. And he absolutely could not have that.
After a heavy night of drinking, and doing cocaine, Ramon Salcido decided to take matters into his own hands.
On the morning of April 14th, 1989, he drove to his home, wanting to confront Angela. When he arrived, it wasn’t Angela he found, but his three daughters. He coaxed them into his truck, and drove away. It’s believed that Angela was asleep at the time Salcido abducted his daughters.
With Sofía, Carmina, and Teresa in the truck, Salcido drove aimlessly before winding up near the county dump. One by one, he took his daughters out of his truck, assaulted them, and slashed their throats. He then left them there for dead.
Following the murders of his daughters, Salcido drove to the home of Marian and Bob Richards – his in-laws.
He sat in his truck, waiting for Bob to leave for work. Then, he knocked on the door, and told Marian that he needed to borrow a tool when she opened the door. When Marian turned her back on him, Salcido hit her in the head, knocking her to the ground.
He forced his way into the home, and shut the door. He then proceeded to brutally stab Marian to death. That done, Salcido turned his attention to his young sisters-in-law, 12-year-old Ruth, and 8-year-old Maria. Both girls were also stabbed,
Next, Salcido called Angela to ensure that she was home. When she answered the phone, confirming that she was there. She was wondering where he daughters were. Salcido hung up the phone, stole a pistol from the Richards’ house, and then got back on the road.
When he returned to the home he had shared with Angela, he attacked her. She fought for her life, tooth and nail, displaying signs of the struggle throughout several rooms in the home. Salcido got the upper hand, and shot Angela four times, killing her.
Having annihilated his family, Salcido wasn’t nearly done righting the perceived wrongs against him. He fled his home, and drove to his workplace, the Grand Cru Winery. There, he found his colleague, Tracey Toovey, the winemaster of the winery.
For reasons unknown, Salcido believed that the married father of two was having an affair with Angela. Whether fact or fiction, Salcido couldn’t let it go. He shot Tracey as he was exiting his vehicle for work.
From there, Salcido then drove to the home of Ken Butty, the supervision of the Grand Cru Winery. When he arrived, Ken and his wife, Terri, answered the door. Salcido pulled his gun, and fired. One shot hit Ken in the shoulder, while the shot aimed at Terri did not go off – the gun had jammed.
Realizing that his luck had run out, Salcido fled the scene, as the Buttys called the police.
Ken readily identified Salcido as the shooter, though he was unable to come up with a possible motive. Ken stated that Salcido had been a valued employee, despite his recent troubles.
While Ken, himself, had no issues with Salcido, it’s entirely possible that Salcido simply wanted revenge against anyone and everyone involved with the winery.
Police traced Salcido’s actions back, and found the bodies of Tracey, Angela, Marion, Ruth and Maria. However, they couldn’t find his three daughters.
One day later, on April 15th, 1989, a young man was walking along the edge of a quarry, near a dump, when he came across something odd. At first, he believed that he’d found dolls, or mannequins. However, when one of them moved, he realized what he’d stumbled on – three young girls, unmoving, laying in pools of blood.
The young man rushed to call the police.
When police arrived, they found the dead bodies of Sofía and Teresa. Carmina, miraculously, was still alive! For over 30 hours, she’d sat, as still as possible, with her knees pulled up, and her chin tucked into her chest. Her position effectively stifled the blood from flowing from her wounds, saving her life.
Carmina was rushed to hospital, where she told staff: “Daddy cut me…”. Her wounds were extensive, and horrific. But she survived, and she healed. A shining light in the midst of a world of tragedy.
As Carmina’s life was being saved, Ramon Salcido was on the run. He made his way to his hometown, in Mexico. Upon his arrival, his relatives, whom he hoped would help hide him, turned him into police.
While being brought back to Sonoma County to be arrested and jailed, Sonoma County Jail officials decided to place him in the women’s ward, secluded, as they feared for his safety otherwise. The inmates of the jail were so affected by the horrific mass murder, and Carmina’s survival, they managed to collect $800 to donate to a trust fund for young Carmina.
When Salcido discovered that Carmina had been found alive, he showed extreme concern as to her custody arrangements. Despite what he’d done to her, he still viewed her as belonging to him – as his property. He was told it was none of his concern.
Due to the extensive news coverage of the case, and the general negative sentiment regarding Salcido himself, his trial was moved out of Sonoma County.
On October 30th, 1990, the jury found Ramon Salcido guilty of six counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, and two counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to death on November 16th, 1990.
To this day, Ramon Salcido sits on Death Row in San Quentin State Prison.
Following her horrific ordeal, Carmina Salcido was adopted by a conservative, Christian family in Missouri. They were rumoured to be friends of her grandfather, Bob Richards.
They immediately sought to change Camina’s name to Cecilia, cutting her off from any living relatives she may have. They isolated, controlled, her, and abused her routinely.
Carmina had very limited exposure to the outside world, which made her feel even more isolated and sheltered. Her adoptive parents would often punish her for saying things they disagreed with by placing Tabasco sauce on her tongue, or washing her mouth out with soap.
She never truly learned about her family, her past, or her incredible survival story. When she was around 15 years old, she found a box in the house that contained newspaper clippings, and various other documents which detailed the events of April 14th, 1989.
When she confronted her adoptive parents about it, they told her that they firmly believed her body contained the blood of a demon, her father’s blood, which needed to be exorcised out of her. While they began planning, an exorcism never actually took place. Instead, her adoptive mother would wake her up, every morning, by throwing holy water on her face.
When Carmina was 17, she left her abusive household, and joined a convent in Nebraska. Really, all she did was escape one form of abuse for another. When she turned 18, she left the convent, and began to make her way back to California.
Carmina had always felt compelled to return to Sonoma County. She wanted to understand her past, and face it head on. In her 20s, she published a memoir titled: “Not Lost Forever: A Story of Survival”, detailing her continued life of survival from one abusive situation to the next.
In February of 2006, Carmina set up a meeting with her father in San Quentin. She wanted to get his side of the story. She was ready to confront him. However, the serious discussion she wanted did not take place. Her father came into the visiting room, joking, with no emotions in his eyes. Carmina cut the visit short.
As of this writing, Carmina is believed to still reside in Sonoma County. She is a mother, though her daughter was removed from her custody due to safety concerns in relation to a romantic partner. Carmina is no longer with that partner.
Carmina maintains strict, limited visitations with her daughter, and is working with her daughter’s foster parents, and various agencies, in order to improve her situation, so that she can gain back custody of her daughter.
Carmina Salcido was only 3 years old when her father ripped her life apart by the cut of a knife. To this day, Carmina strives to not let her past hamper her future.
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Sources:
Nearly killed by her father in 1989, Carmina Salcido faces new crisis – Chris Smith – The Press Democrat via petaluma360.com
The Survival of Carmina Salcido – Emily G. Thompson – Morbidology
The worst crime in Sonoma history: 30 years later – Lorna Sheridan – Sonoma Index Tribune
Blood and Firewater podcast – “Daddy Cut Me” The Case of Ramon Salcido
Wine & Crime podcast – Ep 255 Vineyard Villains
Ramon Salcido Wikipedia page