SANTA ANA, Calif. – A 62-year-old man has been charged with murder for stabbing his estranged wife to death after he believed she had a date with another man during the Valentine’s Day weekend.
On Saturday, February 14, 2026, at around 6:30 a.m., a woman called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to report that her brother-in-law had called her to tell her that he had killed his wife with a knife at their San Juan Capistrano home.
When Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the home, they found a man later identified as Stephen Anthony Demora, 62, of San Juan Capistrano, walking out of the home with blood on his face and body. Deputies found Demora’s wife of thirty years, Debora Demora, 59, of San Juan Capistrano, lying in a pool of blood on the garage floor. She had been stabbed to death. The couple had been estranged for the last 10 years but continued to live in the home together.
Stephen Demora was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for self-inflicted injuries.
Demora has been charged with one felony count of murder and one felony enhancement of personal use of a weapon, a knife. He faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life if convicted on all charges.
“This is a tragedy on so many levels that a relationship that stretched over so many decades could erupt in such brutality on a day meant to celebrate love,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Violence of any kind against anyone will not be tolerated and those who engage in violence will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Demora is currently being held in the Orange County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach on March 26, 2026, in Department H2.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
Legal Penalties Faced by the Suspect
Based on the details provided in the case, Stephen Anthony Demora faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in state prison if convicted on all charges.
This sentence is comprised of two parts:
- 25 years to life for the felony count of murder.
- 1 additional year for the felony enhancement of personal use of a weapon (the knife).