From the archives

Much to the chagrin of court watchers, the 38-year-old Foster City man did not.

Instead of telling Judge Carl Holm and his wife’s family he was sorry for driving down Bernal Avenue off a cliff and 150 feet into the Pacific Ocean, Rapoza used his time to condemn his court-appointed attorneys and look forward to a new trial.

Rapoza’s statements were much in line with the tone of his two-year tour through the county’s judicial system. Multiple times, Rapoza tried unsuccessfully to fire his attorneys and often blamed his hospital confession on heavy medication and serious injuries sustained in the crash.

On Oct. 6, 2002, the Chrysler minivan driven by Rapoza plunged off the end of Bernal Avenue, 150 feet to the Pacific Ocean below. Raye Rapoza and her fetus died at the scene. Tehani Rapoza succumbed days later. Rapoza suffered severe injuries but was the sole survivor of the crash.

Rapoza did not take the stand in his own defense but his attorneys told jurors he may have driven unsafely due to a jealous rage. However, during his month-long trial, the prosecution claimed the deaths of Raye Rapoza and her two daughters was the result of a pre-meditated murder-suicide plot rather than a spontaneous fit of emotional anger.

On April 11, after four days of deliberations, the jury convicted Rapoza of one count of first-degree murder against his wife Raye, 34, and two counts of second-degree murder for her unborn fetus and the couple’s 4-year-old daughter, Tehani.

Elementary school shuttered in South City

Many Hillside Elementary School parents and staff wept and hugged each other the week of May 28, 2005 when the South San Francisco Unified School District Board of Trustees voted to close the school in the fall, breaking up what they called a "family” of the school’s staff, parents and students.

Trustees voted 3-2 to close the school because budget predictions showed a shortfall of about $538,000 of a total school budget of $60 million. Financial predictions for the district showed a deficit if the school at 1400 Hillside Blvd. were to remain open.

Emanuele Damonte, the school board president, cast the deciding vote and said many of the trustees had lost sleep over the decision in the prior few weeks.

"We just don’t have any money,” he said.

BART hikes fares

BART directors voted the week of May 28, 2005 to force riders to pay higher fares and pay parking fees so the financially troubled transit agency can reduce a $51 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2005.

Riders using the six BART stations in San Mateo County were set to pay an extra 10-cent surcharge to help pay operating costs for the Peninsula line. The surcharge was in addition to a 3.7 percent fare hike that previously had been approved for January 2005 and was to boost the minimum fare from $1.25 to $1.40.

Teacher admits student sex

The former Redwood City teacher who bore a former student’s child in 2004 pleaded no contest to one felony charge the week of May 28, 2005 after her attorney’s attempts to have the entire case tossed failed.

Rebecca Ann Boicelli, 34, admitted one count of unlawful sexual intercourse in return for the dismissal of numerous other charges.She faced up to three years in prison plus mandatory registration as a sex offender.

Boicelli admitted having sex with the now 18-year-old father once in August 2003. The boy and Boicelli allegedly began their relationship in 2001 when he was a 14-year-old student at a Redwood City alternative school. Boicelli would move on to two different schools but the encounters continued.

Boicelli gave birth to the baby June 8, 2004 and was arrested Jan. 20 after co-workers contacted police. Police had fielded tips for two years prior but never had concrete evidence until the child’s birth. DNA testing proves the boy is the father. Boicelli’s parents are currently caring for the baby.

From the archives highlights stories originally printed five years ago this week. It appears in the Thursday edition of the Daily Journal.