Families of beating death victim, suspect say loved ones wouldn't seek trouble
| Tuesday, Feb 09 2010 07:49 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Feb 09 2010 07:54 PM
A Matsuda relief fund has been set up at Kern Schools Federal Credit Union to support the children of Patrick Matsuda. The account number is 3273910-00. Donors can go to any branch. His wife, Sarah Annette Matsuda, said he was the sole support for the family.
Images
Blayne Allen Clifford at his arraignment on murder charges in the death of Patrick Matsuda.
Kim Tollison, Blayne Allen Clifford's aunt, cries as she speaks about Clifford after his arraignment on murder charges in the death of Patrick Matsuda.
Blayne Allen Clifford at his arraignment on murder charges in the death of Patrick Matsuda.
Pat Matsuda and his wife, Annette, on their recent anniversary at a Pismo Beach restaurant.
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Families of both a suspect and the victim in a Sunday morning killing in south Bakersfield said Tuesday it wasn't like the person they know to look for trouble.
Annette Matsuda, who saw 40-year-old husband Patrick Matsuda clubbed to death outside their Stonecreek home, said he had never before physically or verbally told neighbors across the street to tone down their parties.
And relatives of Blayne Allen Clifford, 18, who is charged with murder in the death, said he is kind and gentle and "wouldn't kill a fly."
But police say at about 2:20 a.m. Matsuda did tell a man and a woman standing across the street that their party was too loud and that soon escalated to both sides arming themselves with baseball bats and Matsuda dying as he was outnumbered and knocked to the ground.
Before that, Matsuda punched a woman, and after grabbing a bat from his garage when the party-goers aggressively approached him, hit the same woman again in the arm with a bat, police said.
Clifford, police say, struck Matsuda with a baseball bat "out of anger" after he was down on the ground. Police said they are looking for another man who bashed Matsuda's head and knocked him to the ground.
Clifford's aunt, Kim Tollison, said her own sons are trying to find a picture of that suspect to help police. She talked to reporters outside court Tuesday when Clifford's arraignment on murder and assault with deadly weapon charges was delayed to Feb. 16.
She said her sons "don't want Blayne to go down alone."
Zelma Williams, a step-great grandmother of Clifford, said her heart aches for the Matsuda family. But she said of Clifford, "He was always a sweet kid. He hugged me. He kissed me. He wouldn't kill a fly."
Still, both Matsuda and Clifford came to Sunday morning with a history of trouble in their lives.
Matsuda, was in the news 20 years ago as one of three Cal State Bakersfield wrestlers who assaulted two guys who crashed a party.
Matsuda, then about 20, was given immunity to testify against a fellow wrestler who was ultimately found not guilty of bashing a drunken intruder's head so badly that the intruder was in a comalike state for at least four months.
News accounts of the 1990 incident described what happened, based on court testimony:
David Michael Gonsalvez, 21, and Jerry Offill, 23, crashed a party and ultimately slugged a woman when she asked them to leave. Gonsalvez had a blood-alcohol level of .25 percent, more than three times the legal driving limit.
Matsuda and teammates Brian Malavar and Chris Pratt chased the party crashers with Matsuda and Pratt going after Offill and Malavar grabbing Gonsalvez. Other witnesses saw Gonsalvez get his had smashed on the pavement.
The prosecutor gave immunity to Matsuda and Pratt so they could testify it was Malavar, 20, the defendant in the criminal case, who beat up Gonsalvez. They did so, but Malavar was acquitted. Under the law other independent witnesses were needed to convict him, and the other witnesses couldn't positively identify Malavar as the attacker.
It was also learned Tuesday that Matsuda in 2001 was convicted in U.S. District Court Fresno of conspiring to distribute the drug Ecstasy, and served 13 months in federal custody. Matsuda has no other criminal convictions in Kern, though he was charged in three assault and drug cases about 10 years ago.
Clifford, whose bail was set at $1 million, has only one public drunkenness conviction from September.
But even his own family said he has a problem with drugs and alcohol that started three years ago when his mother, Andrea Canaday, died of cancer.
"That's when things started going downhill for him," Tollison said.
Matsuda was described by his family and friends as a great father to his four children, a dedicated worker and a husband who put his wife before his own needs. Mrs. Matsuda said he was quiet and an introvert.
Matsuda, who won a Mr. USA bodybuilding competition in 2001, had a party Saturday night for about 10 people from an Ultimate Fighting Championship group he belonged to, his wife said. That ended about 11:30 p.m., she said.
She went to sleep, but was awakened by the noise and commotion outside her home. She came out and saw her husband get knocked down. She screamed, "Stop, you're killing him," but to no avail.
