DEATH.NOTE

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Natural Born Killer

When Tiffany was 12, she fell in love with 19-year-old Tony. Their parents tired to keep them apart – which lead the couple to do the unthinkable.

About a month before Christmas in 2003, Tiffany Kauv, a 12-year-old from San Jose, California, was typing her wish list: Old Navy cardigan ($18), low-rider Dickies ($38), and a heart necklace ($275). Next to the necklace, she wrote, “reserved for Tony,” so Anthony “Tony” Chargualaf, her 19-year-old boyfriend, would know to buy it. It was obvious that Tony was willing to make Tiffany happy – at any cost.

LONELY HEART~

Tiffany, a seventh-grader at Piedmont Middle School, was a mostly A student and sang in the choir. She had lots of friends and lived with her mum, her 17-year-old brother and her grandparents. But on Friday, October 10, 2003, Tiffany sat down at her computer and wrote in her online diary: “The way I’m feeling is horrible.”

Tiffany was beginning to spend a lot of time on the Internet and phone – and less time with her family. “I always have the feeling that I’m not wanted,” she wrote. But her mum didn’t realize that – and she was getting annoyed with Tiffany for choosing to keep to herself so much. On Sunday, October 19, Tiffany was on the phone with a friend, as usual, when her mum finally yanked out the cord. “Who’s so important?!” she demanded to know. Tiffany though to herself, Just because you don’t have a life, you don’t have to ruin mine!

FORRBIDEN LOVE~

One day in mid-October, Tiffany was at the mall when some friends introduced her to Tony, a cashier they knew at CyberHunt, an Internet Café where they all hung out. Tony was a lonely kid, just like Tiffany. He spent most of his youth shuttling back and forth between his father near Tacoma, Washington, and his mother in Milpitas, California, where he was now living. After Tony and Tiffany met, the two started e-mailing and chatting online. By November, they were calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend. But Tiffany’s mum forbade them to have a relationship because of their big age gap difference. Still, as often as possible, they’d meet at the mall. Tony even came to Tiffany’s school to see her between classes.

In May, Tiffany had a school trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Tony met her there – it was a unique chance for them to spend the whole day together. But when chaperones noticed him hugging Tiffany, they reported it to the principle, who notified Tiffany’s mum.

A few nights later, Tiffany heard her mum talking to her aunt, saying she wanted Tony in jail. After snooping her mum had found some pictures of the couple kissing, which might help prove Tony’s illegal relationship with her underage daughter. Panicked, Tiffany immediately contacted Tony. “Let’s run away!” she said.

GROWING DESPERATION~

Terrified that he and Tiffany might be separated, Tong stole his mum’s credit card, brought two plane tickets to Hawaii, and they took off. Tiffany’s mum noticed her daughter was missing. But it wasn’t until four days later that Tony’s mum tracked them down on his cell. “What’s going on?” she asked. “We ran away,” he replied. Then he said was so desperate to be with Tiffany that they were going to jump off a mountain so they could die together.

Upon hearing that, Tony’s mum hung up, horrified, and called the Hawaii police department. Using information from her credit-card bill, they busted Tony and Tiffany in their hotel room a few hours later. “Pack your bags,” an officer said. “You won’t be coming back.”

Later that night, Tiffany was sent against her will to her mum in California. Tony was held in a Hawaiian jail until he was released a few days later, in early June, pending investigation for child rape. Once he got back home, he was scared that the police would charge him – and he’d lose Tiffany for good. So together they made a new plan. The next Saturday morning, Tony stole his stepdad’s Toyota truck, picked up Tiffany at her home, and they fled again – this time to Tony’s father home in University Place, Washington. Even though Tony’s father, Anthony Chargualaf, had heard about Tony’s illegal trip to Hawaii, he welcomed the pair and set up a mattress for them in his living room.

But for some reason, Tony didn’t reciprocate his father’s generosity. Later that week he stole his father’s credit cards and took Tiffany shopping for new clothes and a haircut. Within hours, Chargualaf’s credit-card company called him, asking about unusual activity.

Later that evening, Tony spoke to his father on the phone. “Get over here and get your stuff!” Chargualaf screamed. He knew that Tony had stolen from him – and he wanted him out. When Tony arrived, his father had already piled up all his clothes. “Give me my key,” Chargualaf said coldly. Knowing full well why his father was so mad, Tony simply handed it over and left.

Over the next few days, Tony’s other relatives from the area let the couple stay with them, not realizing how young Tiffany was. But then, Tony’s uncle told him about Chargualaf was planning to call the police and report that his son was dating a minor. So once again, Tony panicked. He knew that he had to stop his father – or risk losing the love of his life. So at 2 p.m. on June 25, he and Tiffany drove back to his father’s home.

NECESSARY EVIL~

While Tiffany waited down the street in the truck, Tony pried open his father’s window and entered the empty apartment. He brought two knives with him, but he also looked around the apartment for more – and found a machete to place by his side.

After about an hour of silently waiting in the living room, Tony heard his father’s footsteps on the gravel outside, approaching the apartment. As the door opened, Tony kept his two knifes in his pockets. Chargualaf spotted his son – and immediately yelling at him. “What are you doing?!” he screamed. “You are dating a 13-year-old!” Suddenly wild with anger, Tony pulled one of the knives and lunged toward his father, stabbing him in the neck.

Chargualaf began bleeding as he tried to fight back. He grabbed the machete that Tony had placed in the living room and used it to hit his son on the top of the head. But then – Tony grabbed his father’s neck and started to choking him – until Chargualaf managed to use the machete to cut a huge gash in his son’s leg. But Tony was able to pry the weapon out of his father’s hand – and began beating his dad over the head with it.

Within minutes, the two burst outside through the front door, where Tony continued to beat his father – until Chargualaf finally slumped over into a bush, twitching. As Tony watched his father take his last few breaths, he called down the street to Tiffany, “Babe?!”

She got out of the truck and walked towards them, where she saw Tony – and his father’s body – covered in blood. Tiffany says she was shocked – yet she didn’t flee. Instead she stood by. Tony dragged Chargualaf inside. “Can you help me clean the house?” Tony asked Tiffany. “Yeah,” she said, cringing.

Likely in shock over what they’d just done, they took a few days to buy cleaning supplies, plastic storage bins, and an electric saw that Tony planned to use to cut the body into pieces before disposing it in the plastic bins. That week after the murder, they had dinner together at Red Robin – where Tony finally broke down. “I feel bad about killing my dad.” He said quietly. Tiffany looked down at her hamburger and was reminded about the rancid smell of blood in the house. She felt like she was going to throw up.

On July 1, the odour in Chargualaf’s home got so bad that Gerard Sullivan, an owner of the chiropractic office above the apartment, called the landlord. After the two men decided to let themselves into the empty apartment, Sullivan noticed plastic around the rotting corpse, which the kids still hadn’t cut up. They immediately flagged down a police cruiser passing by.

Shortly after, Tiffany and Tony were on their way back to Chargualaf’s home when they spotted the police car out front. Panicked once again, they drove past the building without stopping. They had nowhere left to go, so they randomly decided to drive to Florida. Six days later, as Tiffany and Tony were in a hotel in Missoula, Montana, on their way east, police, were tracking them by their credit-card purchases, arrested them.

LASTING CONSEQUENCES~

Tony and Tiffany were brought to the local police station, where Tony confessed to the murder. “Did you go with the idea that you wanted a confrontation with your dad?” detectives asked. “I didn’t want it to happen, but then, like, in order to be with Tiffany, yeah,” he said. Detectives interviewed Tiffany separately. “Did you ever think about calling 911?” they asked. “Yeah… but I was kind of runaway, so I would get in trouble and I was frighten,” she said. The she asked, “I can’t see (Tony)?” The answer was a resounding no.

After spending 15 days in juvenile detention, Tiffany was sent home to her mum in San Jose, where she stayed until her September 27 sentencing hearing for providing criminal assistance to Tony. Her eyes darted nervously as her lawyer coached her through statement. “I apologized for all the mistakes I’ve done,” she said quickly. Then the judge sentenced her to 15 more days in a juvenile detention centre.

Meanwhile Tony remained in Jail, where he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and second-degree child rape. On October 15, 2004, he was sentenced to serve 285 months in prison – more than 23 years. “I just wish it never happened,” he told investigators. “Did you love your dad?” they asked. “Yes,” he replied. “But the reason this happened is because that love for Tiffany was the most important thing?” they pressed, in hopes of understanding his motives. “Yeah,” he said. But now, as Tiffany resumes her life – going to the 8th grade, even meeting new boys – she is forbidden by law to have any contact with Tony. And Tony just sits alone behind bars, paying for his heinous crime of passion.

DEATH.PEN 1:18 PM