Crime & Safety

Murder-Suicide Victims: Local Developer and Cancer Survivor Son

Sheriff's spokesman identifies the bodies as father Imad Ed Daou and son Andrew Daou.

Updated, 8 p.m., July 29, with the identities of the victims

The two bodies found Wednesday night in unincorporated Los Gatos have been identified as those of a prominent local developer and his son. They are Imad Ed Daou, 50, and son Andrew Daou, 22, according to Santa Clara County Sheriff's Sgt. Troy Smith. A five shot .38-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver, registered to Imad Ed Daou, was recovered at the scene in his possession.

The identities of the pair were released at 6 p.m. Friday, July 29, two days after a neighbor discovered them. Earlier today, Smith had said the bodies found in a home on the 14,000 block of Clara Street could have been the victims of a murder-suicide.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that investigators believe that the 50-year-old shot his son, a cancer survivor and a student at the University of San Diego, before fatally shooting himself.

According to the Mercury News, the neighbor who found the bodies Wednesday night believes that Ed Daou was an abusive husband who snapped when his wife left him. It quotes Sandra Ventura as saying that she thinks Daou killed his son to punish his wife for leaving him. Ventura was a family friend who's lived across the street from the Daous for 18 years. Carmen Hamady Daou left her husband three weeks ago and filed for divorce July 6. According to the article, Ventura went to take a look at the house after Carmen urged her to do so. She couldn't reach her son and was worried about him.

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Andrew Daou's Facebook page shows a photo of himself with his girlfriend. His profile information says he graduated from Valley Christian High School in San Jose in 2007, the number-one rule in life is to "play like a champion." He declares his love for basketball, music, the beach and philosophizing.

Calls to Sheriff's Capt. Ken Binder, who's investigating the case, weren't returned by the time this post was put up.

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Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Santa Clara County Detective Bureau at 408-808-4500.


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