SAN JOSE — A 77-year-old woman whose family told police she had long showed signs of dementia and declining mental health has been charged with setting a house fire that ended with her husband’s death, according to authorities and court records.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office charged Rebecca Makino with one count each of murder and arson causing great bodily injury in connection with the fire reported early Saturday at her Amapola Drive home in West San Jose.
Makino was arraigned Wednesday in a San Jose courtroom in front of Judge Johnny Gogo, who continued the hearing to Thursday morning. With a handful of relatives in the court gallery, she appeared in court but did not enter a plea or make any statements, in part because a Korean interpreter was not available to the court.
Gogo remanded her back to the Elmwood women’s jail without bail, but did so without prejudice, meaning that the county Public Defender’s Office has an opportunity to argue for affordable bail or supervised release at a later date.
Makino had been held in lieu of $100,000 bail after her arrest Saturday, and prosecutors have filed a motion arguing against her pretrial release. Deputy Public Defender Miguel Rodriguez, a supervisor in his office’s homicide division, said in court that he has to consult with Makino’s family and gather more details about the case before presenting a bail or release argument.
Rodriguez alluded to the police investigative summary that accompanied the criminal complaint for Makino, in which San Jose police officers reported speaking with her son, who told them he believed his mother had undiagnosed dementia and “that her mental health had been deteriorating over the last 20 years.”
“It seems pretty clear from the statement of facts that my client is extremely mentally ill,” Rodriguez said.
In an interview after Wednesday’s hearing, Rodriguez added that Makino’s family had been trying in vain to get her help.
“They were concerned about her for some time now,” he said. “They were trying to get her conserved. They wanted her to get treatment.”
When asked by this news organization, the district attorney’s office declined to elaborate on its charging decisions for Makino and instead offered general comment on its process for similar cases.
“We will reserve our discussions about the facts of this case and the custody status of the defendant for the court. However, in general in situations where there is a risk that someone will commit the same or other similar act again and pose a risk to the safety of the public, we advocate for detention or in the alternative, high bail,” the office wrote in a statement.
The office added that the process of assessing a person’s mental state during an alleged crime is for the court to dictate.
“The law also allows for the court, if the defense requests it or pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, to appoint experts to evaluate the mental state of the defendant at the time of the crime or to evaluate the mental state now to determine the defendant’s competence at this moment,” the statement reads.
The fire was reported at 3:48 a.m. Saturday and San Jose firefighters were on scene within six minutes, according to the fire department. Firefighters rescued a man from the blaze, which started in one of the bedrooms of the two-story residence.
Makino’s husband Hiroshi, who was 73, was taken to a local hospital for smoke inhalation, where he died Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. This was San Jose’s 18th homicide of the year.
The police summary states that as the fire burned, firefighters spotted Makino walking away from the home. Firefighters and an arson investigator stopped her and talked to her, and she reportedly told them that she had set the fire with a lighter.
Makino also reportedly told fire personnel that “someone was after her,” and that “she set the fire because she believed that somebody had killed her and they wanted to take her house. She also reportedly said that “she was not trying to hurt the victim and she indicated that she did not know where the victim was.”
Police wrote in the summary that nearby home surveillance video confirmed she was walking in and out of the burning house, and that officers recovered a lighter that Makino reportedly said she used to light the fire.
Rodriguez said he hopes that the entirety of the circumstances will be considered by prosecutors and the court.
“Based on her age, and the fact she suffers from dementia and the specific facts of the case, she should be in a hospital, not jail,” he said. “Hopefully we can work with the DA to achieve that outcome.”
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