remembering Patula...
Four years ago today my stepsister Patula was taken from this world by an evil man. Today I want to remember her. I miss you, Patula...
GARZA, Patula Christine... -- in this city, November 6, 2001. Dearly beloved daughter of Juanita R.(Allen) Brand and Jimmy Garza Sr.; beloved sister of Theresa A. Scardino, Zina J. and Jimmy Garza Jr.; she also leaves behind loving aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Patula was a very loving, giving and caring person to all. She touched everyone's lives with her love and blessings from God, especially with others in need of her special love. Friends may call Tuesday after 2:00 p.m. and are invited to attend the Vigil Service at 7:00 p.m. and the Funeral Service on Wednesday at 10:30 at REILLY CO. 29th & Dolores Sts. Committal Holy Cross Cemetery.
Donations preferred to the San Francisco Night Missionary, Phone (415)-986-1464. REILLY CO. Goodwin & Scannell (415)-648-2233
San Francisco -- Frustrated San Francisco police were searching yesterday for a suspected killer who escaped capture within minutes after being inadvertently tipped that authorities were on his heels.
Jim Katiswani, 37, is sought for the strangulation killing of Patula Garza, a 32-year-old San Francisco woman whose body was found Nov. 6 in a Tenderloin hotel.
Police described Katiswani, who is bald and a muscular 5-foot-11, as "an accomplished liar."
"But he's also very lucky," said Inspector Armand Gordon.
Deported last year to Fiji after serving prison time for a 1998 conviction in San Francisco for spousal abuse and witness intimidation, Katiswani managed to slip back into the United States last year when he joined the crew of an ocean liner and jumped ship in the Bay Area, police say.
Once back here, police say, Katiswani hung around the Tenderloin, meeting Garza on Nov. 5. She was found strangled the next day at the Greystone residential hotel at 66 Geary St.
Garza's body was in a room that Katiswani was supposed to keep clean in exchange for being allowed to stay at the Greystone. When police interviewed Katiswani, investigators say, he showed them an apparently bogus green card under the alias of Joeli Seduadua, then left the city.
Through evidence left in the room, police tied him to the homicide. Acting on a tip, investigators contacted the manager of a Christmas tree lot in the East Bay about their suspect. Katiswani was working at the lot.
The manager thought the call was a joke, Gordon said. "He has a lot of friends who are Oakland cops, and he thought we were playing a game on him," Gordon said.
Although police insisted that they were serious and that the call should be kept secret, the manager told his staff about San Francisco cops asking questions.
Katiswani mentioned he had talked to police and promptly fled.
"He went for a pack of cigarettes and never came back," Gordon said.
"We're doing a full-court press to locate him."
Police say Katiswani has relatives in San Francisco and may still be in the area.
Katisawani, Timoci (#2048599) DOB 07-02-66
Next court appearance: Trial 08-12-05, Dept. 26, 9 a.m.
Background: Charged with murder in the strangulation killing of Patula Garza, 32, whose body was found in a Tenderloin hotel in November 2001.
Arrested 05-16-02. Held on $2 million bail.
ADA: L. Allen
GARZA, Patula Christine... -- in this city, November 6, 2001. Dearly beloved daughter of Juanita R.(Allen) Brand and Jimmy Garza Sr.; beloved sister of Theresa A. Scardino, Zina J. and Jimmy Garza Jr.; she also leaves behind loving aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Patula was a very loving, giving and caring person to all. She touched everyone's lives with her love and blessings from God, especially with others in need of her special love. Friends may call Tuesday after 2:00 p.m. and are invited to attend the Vigil Service at 7:00 p.m. and the Funeral Service on Wednesday at 10:30 at REILLY CO. 29th & Dolores Sts. Committal Holy Cross Cemetery.
Donations preferred to the San Francisco Night Missionary, Phone (415)-986-1464. REILLY CO. Goodwin & Scannell (415)-648-2233
San Francisco -- Frustrated San Francisco police were searching yesterday for a suspected killer who escaped capture within minutes after being inadvertently tipped that authorities were on his heels.
Jim Katiswani, 37, is sought for the strangulation killing of Patula Garza, a 32-year-old San Francisco woman whose body was found Nov. 6 in a Tenderloin hotel.
Police described Katiswani, who is bald and a muscular 5-foot-11, as "an accomplished liar."
"But he's also very lucky," said Inspector Armand Gordon.
Deported last year to Fiji after serving prison time for a 1998 conviction in San Francisco for spousal abuse and witness intimidation, Katiswani managed to slip back into the United States last year when he joined the crew of an ocean liner and jumped ship in the Bay Area, police say.
Once back here, police say, Katiswani hung around the Tenderloin, meeting Garza on Nov. 5. She was found strangled the next day at the Greystone residential hotel at 66 Geary St.
Garza's body was in a room that Katiswani was supposed to keep clean in exchange for being allowed to stay at the Greystone. When police interviewed Katiswani, investigators say, he showed them an apparently bogus green card under the alias of Joeli Seduadua, then left the city.
Through evidence left in the room, police tied him to the homicide. Acting on a tip, investigators contacted the manager of a Christmas tree lot in the East Bay about their suspect. Katiswani was working at the lot.
The manager thought the call was a joke, Gordon said. "He has a lot of friends who are Oakland cops, and he thought we were playing a game on him," Gordon said.
Although police insisted that they were serious and that the call should be kept secret, the manager told his staff about San Francisco cops asking questions.
Katiswani mentioned he had talked to police and promptly fled.
"He went for a pack of cigarettes and never came back," Gordon said.
"We're doing a full-court press to locate him."
Police say Katiswani has relatives in San Francisco and may still be in the area.
Katisawani, Timoci (#2048599) DOB 07-02-66
Next court appearance: Trial 08-12-05, Dept. 26, 9 a.m.
Background: Charged with murder in the strangulation killing of Patula Garza, 32, whose body was found in a Tenderloin hotel in November 2001.
Arrested 05-16-02. Held on $2 million bail.
ADA: L. Allen