Palo Alto Online : Homicide victim reported that suspect had history of anger

Sign up for Express
New from Palo Alto Online, Express is a daily e-edition, distributed by e-mail every weekday.
Sign up to receive Express!

Click for Palo Alto, California Forecast

Palo Alto Online News

Send this story

Print this story

Adjust text size

Uploaded: Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 4:35 PM

Homicide victim reported that suspect had history of anger
Zumot faced domestic violence charges before his girlfriend's body was discovered

by Gennady Sheyner
Palo Alto Online Staff

Photos

Bulos "Paul" Zumot, the owner of a downtown Palo Alto hookah bar who was arrested Monday night for allegedly killing 29-year-old Jennifer Schipsi and setting their Addison Avenue cottage on fire, had faced charges for threatening and harassing Schipsi more than a year before her death, court records show.

According to statements made by Schipsi as part of her application for a restraining order last year, the two started dating in October 2007 but split up in February 2008 after Schipsi noticed signs of "extreme anger and controlling characteristics" in Zumot.

In early February, Schipsi discussed her domestic situation and the pros and cons of the various criminal protective orders with a crisis-intervention advocate from the San Jose-based organization, Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence. According to a statement from the organization to the court, the topics discussed also included "safety planning" and "resources and referrals."

The following day, Schipsi told Zumot that they needed to split up. In her application for a restraining order, she said Zumot became "extremely angry." He allegedly walked into his bedroom, gathered her belongings and began to throw them at her.

As Schipsi gathered these objects and headed toward the door, Zumot allegedly grabbed her arm and held on while screaming profanities into her ear. Schipsi reported that he then let her go and followed her out the door. As she entered her vehicle, he allegedly kicked the front grill and front door of her vehicle, causing more than $1,300 in damages.

In the following weeks, Zumot persistently called, e-mailed and sent text messages to Schipsi, apologizing and saying that he would have the damage on her car repaired, Schipsi's application states. She ultimately decided to see him again.

"He somehow convinced me that his reactions were not part of his character," Schipsi reported in her application. "He seemed sincere and said he would seek counseling and anything he could do to prevent this from happening.

"Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I began seeing him for dinner a few times per week and the anger and verbal abuse started up again."

On March 13, Schipsi tried once again to break up with Zumot and asked him not to call her again. That night, he sent her 10 text messages and called her 21 times.

The following day, Schipsi and Zumot had a heated confrontation near a Starbucks at Santana Row in San Jose, where Schipsi lived before moving to Addison Avenue a little over a month ago. He allegedly followed Schipsi to her car and, as she was about to get inside, called her foul names and spit in her face. Schipsi wrote in her application for a restraining order that he spit in her face so much that she had to go home and shower again, forcing her to be late for work.

The next day, Zumot allegedly sent Schipsi 88 text messages, putting her down. She responded asking him to stop contacting her and saying she would get a restraining order against him. He replied, "Don't threaten me."

According to Schipsi's application, the calls and text messages from Zumot kept flooding in. "ur a cancer and u know it," he allegedly said in a March 14 text message. An hour later, he sent her another message, "I have 2 get u out of my life @ any price." But three days later, he sent her two text messages, "I love u. And Iam gonna win u back @ any price" and "I cant take it any more. Im gonna stop by ur place."

By March 15, she reported receiving more than 200 calls and messages. Sometimes he threatened to spread false rumors about her and called her names; at other times he told her he loved her and would have her back "at any cost." On March 17, he e-mailed her a message, "Mark my words, you will be my wife someday."

On that same day, she was filing a police report when Zumot called and sent her a text message. A police officer picked up the phone and told Zumot he must stop bothering Schipsi, according to the police report.

Throughout February and early March, Zumot allegedly sent Schipsi messages that she said went "from one extreme to the next" and made her feel unsafe. In her application, she wrote, "I need this man to leave me alone."

"I have not been responding to him and it's not helping," Schipsi reported. "He knows my schedule and it is easy for him to find me.

"I have been staying at a friend's house the past few nights. I am afraid for my safety and need help."

The officer with whom Schipsi spoke reported that she "appeared scared." The police report noted that she "fears Zumot will harm her due to numerous messages he has sent her since they broke up."

In May, Schipsi again went to the police to report that Zumot violated his protective order. He faced a misdemeanor domestic-violence charge for "the crime of obscene language or threat to injure, by telephone and by means of an "electronic communication device," according to the arrest warrant.

According to a police report based on Schipsi's statement, Zumot continued to call her from blocked numbers. Schipsi usually didn't answer. In one case, she picked up the phone and heard him say, "Do you know who you are talking to right now?" She told him that if he had something to say, he could say it on June 9, when they were due in court. He replied, "You will not make it to see me on the 9th" -- a statement she interpreted as a threat.

Schipsi left her home and spent the next few days with family or friends, according to the police report.

But by October 2008, they were back together. Schipsi asked the court to reduce his restraining order to "peaceful conduct" and to remove the "stay-away provision." In her request, Schipsi wrote that Zumot "has not been a threat to me since the restraining order was issued."

She also said that the person who was calling and threatening her was "a neighbor of mine who has since been arrested for assaulting me."

At the time of his arrest, Zumot was scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 8 on charges of violating his restraining order in March 2008.

In early September 2009, the couple moved to 969 Addison Ave., a cottage on a quiet block between Channing and Fife avenues. Their landlord, John Eckland, whose house is to the rear of the property, said they were a private couple but did nothing to arouse suspicion.

Eckland told the Weekly he hadn't seen Schipsi or her vehicle over the four days leading up to the Oct. 15 fire. Schipsi's burned body was found in the bedroom shortly after the fire was extinguished.

Sgt. Dan Ryan, Palo Alto police spokesman, said police believe Zumot killed Schipsi in an "act of passion" and then burned the bedroom to hide his crime. Ryan said police concluded that Zumot committed the crime after four days of intense investigation that also included the Santa Clara County Fire Investigation Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"Everyone from the chief of police to the lowest beat officer has been working on this over the weekend," Ryan said.

Late Monday afternoon, police searched inside Da Hookah Spot and towed Zumot's vehicle, a silver Range Rover, to the police station garage.

Ryan couldn't comment on when, where or how Schipsi was killed, but said the autopsy report indicated that she died before the fire. He wouldn't say whether Zumot's vehicle was used to transport the victim to Addison Avenue but said the vehicle's involvement in the crime is "not beyond the realm of possibility."

"We're still in the middle of that investigation," Ryan said. "We're looking at several vehicles and we executed several search warrants.

"This is a very active investigation."

Comments

Posted by John, a resident of another community, on Oct 21, 2009 at 1:06 am

Sounds like it was a very dysfunctional relationship. No disrespect to the victim or the family and this may not be the right time to bring up this question, but I wonder if the boyfriend was doing drugs? I read the mercury news article detailing Jennifer's complaints of "Paul" and it sounds like he was trying to control her, but obviously there was a lot of back and forth there between them that family and friends (including domestic services) could not resolve between them. For whatever reason she obviously moved in wiht him within the last month in Palo Alto, so, being a guy, being non-emotional "so to speak" I can only guess that the relationship was extremely unhealthy. So, going forward, what should a girl do in that situation? It is very hard to make judgments or cast aspertions on people, but the bottom line is, if this guy is guilty, the "system" failed her, that's really sad and horrible. Our communities these days, well, we are so into material things and material answers, we forget to see the forest through the trees...and this poor girl cried out for help. This "guy" had a business and was supposedly successful. So, is this the old story or what???