This article was never posted. I've been trying to get more info about Ross' time at Evergreen. I've run into some road blocks and will try again in the fall.


Every conflict has at least two sides.

Unfortunately at least one of the sides in the mysterious story of former EVC teacher, Stanley Ross, expired on the same day he did.

On October, 23, 2000, Stanley was killed by his wife of 18 years, Mary Ross.

Mary was recently found guilty of manslaughter. She waits in jail in Martinez, California until her sentencing this summer.

For voluntary manslaughter with a firearm, she faces jail time from six to 21 years.

Contra Costa county deputy district attorney Barry Grove said, "The number of years we ask the court to adopt will reflect the gravity of intentionally firing a gun into the head of a human being."

Faculty and administrators at San Jose/Evergreen Community College District refuse to answer even the most basic questions about Stanley’s two semesters teaching at EVC.

Despite the libel laws making it impossible to libel the dead, personal policy is not to reveal information about terminated employees.

We are left with the impression of a bright, personable teacher, well thought of by his students, who left the employ of EVC under mysterious circumstances.

But we can find out more about Stanley through his wife, and convicted murderer, during her trial.

According to Mary, Stanley was a charming, worldly suitor prior to their marriage.

She was a student in one of Stanley’s classes at Cal State Long Beach.

During their courtship, Stanley would take her sailing on the Pacific and to romantic dinners at the yacht club.

Two weeks after their wedding, Mary first saw the Jekyll side of Stanley’s personality.

According to her testimony that was the first time he pushed her, pinned her down and slapped her until her face was black and blue and swollen.

The remainder of their marriage, Mary testified that Stanley would swing wildly from charming, sophisticated husband to raving maniac and wife beater.

Mary had little warning and no way of knowing what might set off his dark moods.

During the 18 years of marriage, Stanley would cut her under her breast with a 15-inch carving knife, threaten to kill her family if she got them involved, often beat her until she didn’t want to go out in public and encouraged her to kill herself to avoid a messy divorce.

Mary spent much of her married life with a loaded gun on her nightstand, while Stanley kept his gun in a holster on the bed post.

On a night in October of 2000, one of those weapons was used.

Ross had left EVC employment after the spring semester in 2000.

On that October night he accused his wife of conspiring to keep him from getting steady employment.

In her testimony, Mary said Stanley was upset and accused her of being responsible for his failure to secure employment. After hitting her in the face a number of times, he got up from bed saying he was going to get a bat.

In a panic, Mary got her gun from the nightstand and held it up to her head, threatening to kill herself.

"I have you figured out," he said. "That’s not going to work this time. Go ahead, make my job easier. I’ll just have one less to kill."

He then ordered her back to bed, but the gun didn’t go back to the nightstand. She tucked it into her pillow, keeping both hands in close reach of the weapon.

Later that same night, after she thought he had fallen asleep, she heard him stir.

According to her testimony, she saw Stanley reach for his holster and say, "I’m going to kill you."

"He turned toward me and I pushed my hands out. I hit something and pulled the trigger."

She fell asleep with her dead husband lying beside her. Later that night she covered his head and body with garbage bags so the couples’ two German shepherds wouldn’t disturb his body.

Grove contends in his closing statement that Mary shot her sleeping husband in the back of the head, using a pillow to muffle the sound of the gun shot.

Her side of the story is that her gun was tucked into her pillow, and was between her husband and her when she reached out with the loaded pistol.

Defense attorney Harold Rosenthal claimed in his closing statement, "Yes, her behavior was strange and bizarre, but it was consistent with someone suffering from battered wives’ syndrome. She was on autopilot, never dealing with the 800-pound gorilla sitting there that her husband is dead."

"Mary Ross loved her husband," Rosenthal concluded.

After three days of difficult deliberation, the jury ended up not believing the defense or prosecution, convicting Mary of voluntary manslaughter, rather than the charge of murder or her claim of self-defense.

The jury did ask for leniency is sentencing.

"We think the decision is right," said juror Scott Smith. "We just hate to see a person like that go through any more than she already has."

Rosenthal said the conviction will be appealed.

Was Stanley really intending to kill his wife that night? Did he have a death wish and use his wife to commit suicide? Or had Mary had enough of the battering from her husband and ended it the best way she knew how?

Answers would be easier if he had the other side of the story, but we won’t and never will.

A popular, but sick former EVC teacher is dead and there will remain more questions than answers.

We can end this story the same way Robert Louis Stevens ended The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: "Here then, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end."

Kristi Belcamino, police, crime and pubic safety reporter for the Contra Costa Times, contributed to this story.

Posted May 2, 2002