County prosecutors dropped murder charges against a Gilroy doctor initially accused with hiring another man to murder his 74-year-old wife. Dr. German Baldeon, 68, emerged from the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill Oct. 7 a free man, after evidence came to light clearing his name of any involvement in the April 1 stabbing death of Doris Mae Knapp in the couple’s home on the 1400 block of Bristlecone Court.
“This reaffirms the concept of the presumption of innocence,” Baldeon’s defense attorney, Paula Canny, told reporters outside the courtroom.
Baldeon, a physician with locations in Salinas, was arrested in June and charged with Knapp’s murder. Her death was originally ruled a suspicious death by Gilroy police.
Prosecutors put forth that Baldeon hired 59-year-old David Galvez—a friend of Baldeon, police said, who killed Knapp in exchange for a condominium the couple owned in Ecuador. Police converged on Galvez’s home in Tracy to execute a search warrant, but the man had already fled the country.
Prosecutors said the evidence, or lack thereof in Baldeon’s case, helped weave a different narrative from the one established at the time the charges against him were first filed. While Knapp had life insurance policies valued at more than $441,000, according to court records, she took them out herself prior to her death.
“As in all cases, the investigation continues throughout the case. Once in a while—it’s rare, but it happens—that continuing investigation changes either the nature of the evidence we believed we had at the time we issued the case or new evidence comes to light that makes us determine we can’t pursue the charges. And that’s what happened in this case,” Bernhard said. “At this point in time, we don’t have any evidence to pursue charges against Dr. Baldeon and the interest of justice demands we dismiss the charges against him.”
Canny, who noted this case
Galvez currently faces a murder charge for Knapp’s slaying, but the ability of the District Attorney’s Office to bring him to justice is limited by the fact he is an Ecuadorian national. The United States has an extradition treaty with Ecuador, but “they will not extradite their nationals,” Bernhard explained.
“In this particular instance, we don’t have any ability to bring him back,” she added.
Baldeon spoke briefly to reporters outside the courthouse after the case against him was dismissed, but while he walked away free, there’s someone in his life who can never be brought back.
“I like this sunny day,” Baldeon said, standing in front of television cameras and surrounded by more than a dozen people. “But my future—my sadness—it will be dark. I miss my wife. Thank you.”
