Santa Clara Murder Still Haunts Family 15 Years Later

[Zoneboy]

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At first, the Christmas cards from their son's old boss arrived year after year at the Mauro home, always remembering the promising young engineer, gunned down in broad daylight at Applied Materials.

Then, eventually, the cards stopped. So, too, did the calls from police.

What hasn't stopped are the restless nights, lying awake, tormented with the same piercing questions about a murder that happened 15 years ago today. Who would have wanted Matthew D. Flores dead? Why would anyone want to kill the handsome, charismatic husband and father — a decorated Army veteran who led a seemingly ordinary life?

"It's been 15 years, it is still an unsolved homicide and nothing has ever come about," said Mike Mauro, Flores' stepfather. "We're still hoping someday, someone will call us and say, 'Here's what happened and here's the reason.' "

But the mystery surrounding the case still haunts them as they wait in frustration for Santa Clara police to find their son's shooter, a phantom-like killer who slipped away without a trace from the parking lot of Building 12 on March 24, 1994.

What made the Flores' case all the more baffling was that even though it happened just minutes after 8 a.m. as he arrived to work on his ninth day on the job, it appears that no one saw the shooting. Not the woman who heard the shot and turned to see his kneeling body, slumped next to the driver's door of his sedan. Nor the other drivers who entered the


parking lot just before he was shot once in the back of the head at point-blank range. None of the security cameras captured the shooting, and there was no shell casing from a weapon or sign of a struggle. None of his belongings were taken.

But there was one potentially explosive piece of evidence caught on a grainy security videotape — a black and white Ford Explorer, seen circling the parking lot before the shooting, then leaving only seconds after Flores was shot. The driver has never been found.

"The most puzzling thing about this case is that it was so busy that morning, yet we didn't have as many witnesses as you would think there would be,'' said Capt. Stewart Cusimano, who's been at the department for 29 years. "That's what was really lacking here."

Flores, 26, had just left the Army where he had served as a lieutenant during Operation Desert Storm. He had moved his wife and 8-month-old daughter, Danielle, to Santa Clara for a job at Applied Materials where he was to train for a few months before transferring to the company's Dallas office.

"He had paid his dues and put himself through college,'' said his mother, Ellen Mauro, from her home in Rhode Island, where Flores grew up. "This was his big chance and he never got to enjoy it."

In the 15 years since Flores' death, Mauro hounded the FBI, congressional leaders and former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno for help in her son's case. She even sought out psychics. Nothing panned out.

"I spent more than five years going everywhere and anywhere to anyone who I thought could help,'' she said, "and all I would get were doors slammed in my face or letters saying, 'We can't help you.' ''

His widow, Denise, a nurse who lives in Massachusetts, never remarried and both she and Danielle always wonder why Flores' life was taken so brutally. "We lived very ordinary lives,'' she said. "There have been so many days and nights when I've thought of every possible scenario and nothing makes sense."

Danielle knows her father only through videos and photographs, including one near the Golden Gate Bridge taken days before his death, where's he's holding her in his arms.

Flores' case has appeared on "Unsolved Mysteries," airing periodically over the years and occasionally generating new leads.

"We've probably spent more time on this case than any other case that I can recall," Cusimano said. More recently, Santa Clara police had consultants look at the case, submitted new evidence to the lab and reviewed the surveillance tape. Detectives also took a new look at his military connections, exploring his relationships and assignments.

Flores had no known enemies, so there's a question whether it could have been a case of mistaken identity.

"There are no facts that can substantiate a theory," Cusimano said.

The family, however, remains frustrated with police. Cusimano said he understands. "I don't blame them. I'm frustrated. This is one of those cases that I have always taken a personal interest in."

At Applied Materials, the executives who knew Flores are gone. His old boss, Gary Robertson, who found him in the parking lot that day, no longer wants to talk about the case. And, since Flores had been at the tech company just days, not many knew him.

Still, a reminder of him lingers at the company's sprawling campus. There, near the dull forbidding concrete Building 12 on Oakmead Village Drive, is a scarcely noticeable barren tree planted in Flores' honor. Next to it lies a tombstone-like granite monument ensconced in a cluster of rocks with a plaque. It says simply: Matthew D. Flores, 1967-1994.

[UMfan77]

I can't believe it's been 15 years already. Matt Flores' family has been through so much, I can only hope someone comes forward and confesses so that the family can have some closure. It's truely unbelievable how unsolvable this case has been!

[Apostapler]

Oh my goodness his daughter is almost driving age. So sad this hasn't been solved yet.

[yuppielawyer]

Can someone remind me . . . I believe when showcased on UM, they posited the idea that this was a case of mistaken identity, but I can't remember if they identified who the killer might really have been after.

This always appeared to be a hired killing. If they really did kill the wrong person, it seems almost impossible to figure out who was responsible. Very sad for Matt and his family.

[DP1]

15 years...very sad. I hope justice is done one of these days and Matt Flores killer is brought to justice.

[Fowler69]

I can solve this and already did in 94, They just cant stand doing nothing about all the people involved like co-workers their navy familys the police the naval and their familys that ran pinkerton security at applied..ectect.. come to me i have good answers a a great dirrection to lead you...

[Necco]

Originally Posted by Fowler69

I can solve this and already did in 94, They just cant stand doing nothing about all the people involved like co-workers their navy familys the gay police the dykes ala naval and their familys that ran pinkerton security at applied..ectect.. come to me i have good answers a a great dirrection to lead you...

Using sexual orientation as an insult is not going to get you taken seriously here. Using intellectual arguments and proof if you have it, will.

[1990 UM fan]

Originally Posted by Necco

Using sexual orientation as an insult is not going to get you taken seriously here. Using intellectual arguments and proof if you have it, will.

What is with that person anyways?

[alfie00]

Originally Posted by Fowler69

I can solve this and already did in 94, They just cant stand doing nothing about all the people involved like co-workers their navy familys the police the naval and their familys that ran pinkerton security at applied..ectect.. come to me i have good answers a a great dirrection to lead you...

So what's your theory?

[Fowler69]

As much as this dismays me:
Matts death was thrill kill by the children of Moffett feilds navy,Who were forced to live there until after 1999 I make this statement because they were also responsible for th continued embezzelements of my settlement wealth from a car "accident" they may have caused of my person. In 1994 these navy people were under investigation for embezzeling 25k from me in 99 they took over 200k and were stilling living at moffettfeild after it had been closed as a military facility in 1994, 2 months after Matts death.

Prior to the event at applied materials there was a confab at my former employeers site then united defense now B.A.E. Systems where several of Matts friends were offered jobs thru connections for being new dads and moms.

I remember a women asking which of them I liked and thinking nothing of it I replied Matt, This women was not a B.A.E. employee as I had work for them nearly 3 years and would know,She was naval. I didnt see her again until the morning of Matts death.

I had just met him once at b.a.e. systems while his buddy was interviewing, bought him a water and got the babies some milk/juice.

So I met the guy once maybe twice and only at b.a.e. systems 1450 carl st sanjose,ca.

Bottom line is jealiousy, this women showed back up smelt of gun powder was seen talking with a santa clara police officer whom wanted me to go talk to her, i still have problems with this cop and his family todate,She was never arrested and even saw her at a church in mountain view where she was doing much better and a pillar in the community, as if I cared. But the people who wanted me there seemed to and about only her.

Guess what?

The church is rainbow oriented.

I am a hetro, I dont care about sexual orientation except they used it as there excuse and I quote:

"you dont know how bad things are for us and what we had to go thru".
and I didnt care until Matts death and my embezzelment.

I call the cop tito, a pet name for such a outstanding law enforcement offical that had knowledge of Matts death and refused to act that morning.

Titos buddy another former army gay or not, who is the guy who let me in on what they had planned not only of my wealth life and future but Matts as well.
I will call him Zoro:

Zoro served like Matt and wasnt at all weird queered out nor did he appreciate what the navy were doing to me and had planns too.He had or has a friend that lived a Moffett feild on base.

He can tell you who were all involved at least like myself lead you to whom covered it up, Kinda like what I'm doing.

[alfie00]

Originally Posted by Fowler69

As much as this dismays me:
Matts death was thrill kill by the children of Moffett feilds navy,Who were forced to live there until after 1999 I make this statement because they were also responsible for th continued embezzelements of my settlement wealth from a car "accident" they may have caused of my person. In 1994 these navy people were under investigation for embezzeling 25k from me in 99 they took over 200k and were stilling living at moffettfeild after it had been closed as a military facility in 1994, 2 months after Matts death.

Prior to the event at applied materials there was a confab at my former employeers site then united defense now B.A.E. Systems where several of Matts friends were offered jobs thru connections for being new dads and moms.

I remember a women asking which of them I liked and thinking nothing of it I replied Matt, This women was not a B.A.E. employee as I had work for them nearly 3 years and would know,She was naval. I didnt see her again until the morning of Matts death.

I had just met him once at b.a.e. systems while his buddy was interviewing, bought him a water and got the babies some milk/juice.

So I met the guy once maybe twice and only at b.a.e. systems 1450 carl st sanjose,ca.

Bottom line is jealiousy, this women showed back up smelt of gun powder was seen talking with a santa clara police officer whom wanted me to go talk to her, i still have problems with this cop and his family todate,She was never arrested and even saw her at a church in mountain view where she was doing much better and a pillar in the community, as if I cared. But the people who wanted me there seemed to and about only her.

Guess what?

The church is rainbow oriented.

I am a hetro, I dont care about sexual orientation except they used it as there excuse and I quote:

"you dont know how bad things are for us and what we had to go thru".
and I didnt care until Matts death and my embezzelment.

I call the cop tito, a pet name for such a outstanding law enforcement offical that had knowledge of Matts death and refused to act that morning.

Titos buddy another former army gay or not, who is the guy who let me in on what they had planned not only of my wealth life and future but Matts as well.
I will call him Zoro:

Zoro served like Matt and wasnt at all weird queered out nor did he appreciate what the navy were doing to me and had planns too.He had or has a friend that lived a Moffett feild on base.

He can tell you who were all involved at least like myself lead you to whom covered it up, Kinda like what I'm doing.

It's sometimes quite hard to decipher all that you write as your sentences don't always flow very easily. Have your gone to the police with this, you seem very convinced and why wouldn't you be right as he didn't seem to have any known enemies and it was an obvious planned attack.

[Fowler69]

I really appreciate your comments to my post as you made no and I mean no reference to me being a tinfoil hat type. TY

Now I've been to the police twice I know of and they even told me I had been there before, Which fits with me because I had been filing against the navy with the DOJ for the use of a date rape type drug by them against my person. Basicaly they took my memories of them and as recent as 2008 they used it on me in SanDiego and now I'm back here in S.C.

I'm alittle hard to follow because I've been trying to put into order who,what and when and this I try with jumbled memory.

I may also be the only consistant information they have and so you know that reward offered I couldnt accept anyway because of the nature of my suspended status with the U.N. Security Council.

So I have no monetary intrest in this case other then what the navy did to me,Whom were orderd to pay me damages back in 99 and havent.

[Concernedcitizen]

Originally Posted by Fowler69

I really appreciate your comments to my post as you made no and I mean no reference to me being a tinfoil hat type. TY

Now I've been to the police twice I know of and they even told me I had been there before, Which fits with me because I had been filing against the navy with the DOJ for the use of a date rape type drug by them against my person. Basicaly they took my memories of them and as recent as 2008 they used it on me in SanDiego and now I'm back here in S.C.

I'm alittle hard to follow because I've been trying to put into order who,what and when and this I try with jumbled memory.

I may also be the only consistant information they have and so you know that reward offered I couldnt accept anyway because of the nature of my suspended status with the U.N. Security Council.

So I have no monetary intrest in this case other then what the navy did to me,Whom were orderd to pay me damages back in 99 and havent.

Hey Fowler69, another thing that's weird is between two forums about the same case you completely pose two different theories, so which one is it? Maybe you should get your story straight. Just a thought...