Family shocked over alleged actions of a 'changed' man

Patricia Barrales and Honorio Pantaleon moved out of her mother’s Ukiah home two months ago, bringing their two children to Santa Rosa in hopes Pantaleon could find better paying construction jobs.

She continued to commute to her job at Ukiah Valley Medical Center, where she worked in the patient financial office and was “warm and friendly and well liked,” a co-worker said.

Pantaleon was a former gang member who family members say turned his life around after having children with Patricia Barrales.

“He changed. He was a good dad,” said his sister, Blanca Pantaleon of Kelseyville.

That’s left family members stunned about the alleged actions of Pantaleon, 30, who was arrested late Monday night in Ukiah following a daylong manhunt to find Patricia Barrales’ killer.

Honorio Pantaleon is accused of stabbing her to death in front of at least one of his children in Santa Rosa, and a day later, attacking her mother, Isabel Barrales in Ukiah in a failed attempt to kill her.

Law enforcement said he reportedly tried to shoot her with a rifle, then struck her in the head when it would not fire.

Barrales was stabbed multiple times and her body hidden in a closet.

According to Blanca Pantaleon, her brother showed up at her mother’s Kelseyville home with the two boys just before midnight Saturday.

He brought suitcases filled with their belongings along with Stitch, their little fluffy dog, and their birth certificates.

He left without saying why, she said.

Pantaleon said her mother, Erminia Pantaleon, was concerned because Barrales never allowed her children to go to Kelseyville without her.

On Sunday morning, she asked the oldest boy, 5, where his mother was.

Pointing to his stomach, he said his daddy had stabbed her and then she fell asleep, Blanca Pantaleon said.

She believes her brother killed Barrales not long after she returned from a Saturday Mothers Day celebration at her mother’s home in Ukiah.

“I don’t know why he did it,” she said.

After the child told them what happened, one of Blanca’s other brothers phoned Isabel Barrales, who drove to Santa Rosa to check on her daughter.

Police were called to search the apartment but initially did not find the body.

Believing her daughter might be in the trunk of the car Pantaleon was driving, Barrales, accompanied by law enforcement officials, went to his mother’s home in Lake County.

She took custody of the children and returned to Ukiah.

She was allegedly assaulted when Honorio Pantaleon went looking for his children, law enforcement officials said.

The spree of violence has left Pantaleon’s family in shock, his sister said.

Honorio Pantaleon had changed for the better after starting a family with Patricia Barrales some six years ago, Blanca Pantaleon said.

Pantaleon’s parents worked hard, traveling three states harvesting crops to make a better life for their children, who helped with the work.

They brought Honorio, then about 9 or 10 years old, when they immigrated to Mendocino County more than 20 years ago, she said.

The family soon moved to Lake County, where her brother attended Kelseyville High School, Blanca Pantaleon said. He dropped out of school after becoming involved in a Los Angeles-based gang, STV, she said.

The gang affiliation, combined with several arrests, resulted in his legal immigration status being revoked, she said.

Honorio at least twice has been deported since then, most recently in December after he was stopped for driving erratically in Lake County, Blanca Pantaleon said.

That’s why he commonly went by his eldest son’s name, Victor, she said.

Honorio also was deported after he was arrested in late 2006 for assaulting a co-worker at the Hopland mill where he was working.

Employees at Ukiah Valley Medical Clinic Tuesday were grieving the loss of their friend and co-worker, said UVMC Communications Director Jendi Coursey.

“It’s tragic and it’s heartbreaking,” she said. “She was warm and friendly and well-liked.”

A fund to help her children is being set up at the Savings Bank of Mendocino County, Coursey said.

Barreles job created friction in her relationship with Honorio Pantaleon because it paid better than his, Blanca Pantaleon said.

Barrales disparaged his work in construction or agriculture. Yet she followed him to Santa Rosa and commuted to Ukiah to keep her job.

Honorio had been depressed in recent weeks, Blanca Pantaleon said.

“He was crying” to her mother, Blanca said.

But she denied allegations that he has been abusive to his wife.

He struck her once, but it was before their youngest child was born and before he changed his ways, Blanca said.