Jakov P Dulcich, born in Argentina of Croatian parents, and later raised in Croatia, came to the USA in his late 20s. He learned farming from his uncle and started buying land and growing grapes. Dulcich called his farm ‘Pretty Lady’, honoring his wife. By the time Jakov Dulcich died he, along with his sons, was running a successful farming business owning thousands of acres of land in California’s heartland, around Bakersfield. The American Dream that was earned by hard work came to a violent end through another facet of American life: mindless shootings. Shortly after Dulcich was killed in his SUV, police arrested Mariano Fernandez Perez as the prime suspect. Perez was arrested because he had a criminal past and a car that he used was found burning by a roadside, far from the crime scene. When Dulcich was shot multiple times in his car, there were no cameras recording the scene. But there was an eyewitness, driver of another car that happened to be at the shooting site. The eyewitness picked up Perez from the Police lineup. But later, during the trial, the eyewitness showed ambivalence about the identity of the shooter. The guy who killed Dulcich was not as tall as Perez, and the murdered did not have any tattoos, the eyewitness testified in front of the jury. Add this to the fact that Perez did not have a motive to kill Jakov Dulcich. The court acquitted Perez. But within a year Perez was found beaten to death.
Perez was not found guilty but still Jakov P Dulcich was killed in cold blood. Who killed Dulcich and why? Here are two possible scenarios:
1.It was Perez who killed Jakov Dulcich. The eyewitness changed his statement in the court because he knew about Perez’s gang affiliation and was afraid of his life if Perez was sentenced because of eyewitness’s testimony. What was Perez’s motive in killing Dulcich? Perez was a lowlife criminal, most probably with a short fuse. Maybe it was a case of road rage. Something that Dulcich did while driving infuriated Perez and in his rage, Perez killed Dulcich.
2. Perez did not kill Jakov Dulcich. The actual killer is still roaming free.
To pursue this case further, especially with respect to the second scenario, we have to find out who benefited from Jakov Dulcich’s death.
Tags: An unsolved murder case shaming the Delano Police Department, Central Valley, Vineyards
