Man Who Decapitated Mom, Dad In South OC Home Due In Court, Police Say

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — A man accused of decapitating his mother and father as well as their dog in a mobile home in south Orange County is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in a Santa Ana courtroom.

Joseph Brandon Gerdvil, 41, of San Juan Capistrano, was charged Thursday with two counts of special-circumstances murder in the deaths of 77- year-old Ronald Walter Gerdvil and 79-year-old Antoinette Gerdvil.

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, deputies responded to a "domestic incident" at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 32000 block of Alipaz Street. Deputies who arrived at the San Juan Mobile Estates complex found the bodies of the suspect's parents and their dog, according to a previous Patch report.

While deputies were on the scene, a caller told dispatchers that a man covered in blood was chasing a maintenance worker nearby and stole a golf cart, Parrish said.

Deputies found Joseph Gerdvil, who allegedly had driven the golf cart along a bike trail to a spot near Calle Arroyo. During the ensuing confrontation, Gerdvil was shot by a deputy, Parrish said.

It was not clear if he had a weapon on him, nor what prompted the shooting.

Gerdvil was taken to a hospital in critical but stable condition, Parrish said.