EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – A 20-year-old man who was recently arrested in a murder dating back to 2022 was previously charged that same year for stabbing a dog to death, according to court documents obtained by KTSM.
According to the court documents, in May 2022, Kenneth Seind Gaucin, 20, was arrested and charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals/kill after he allegedly stabbed a dog to death with a kitchen knife.
According to El Paso Police, Gaucin was arrested on an “unrelated” charge in June 2024, and he was rebooked on March 7 this year and charged with the murder of Juan Francisco Grajeda, 49.
On May 5, 2022, investigators met with a couple — a man and a woman — who said that the previous day, they had a family gathering to celebrate Mother’s Day. The couple said they were in the kitchen, seated by the table with two other family members, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Gaucin’s mother said she saw her son looking at the man in “a very angry manner,” and when she asked him, “What was wrong?” he said nothing and sat next to her.
Gaucin’s mother said she saw her son grab the knife they used to cut the cake, go to the sink to wash the knife, and go out to the backyard, according to court documents.
According to court documents, the couple said that moments later, they heard that one of their dogs was barking in the backyard.
The man went to the backyard to check on the dog and saw a small brown terrier mixed dog had an electric cord wrapped around his neck and snout, and blood on his face, neck, and chest area.
The man said he cut the electric cord off the dog’s neck, and the dog ran and laid down next to an air compressor where he died, according to court documents.
According to court documents, the couple said the only person in the backyard was Gaucin, and only 10 minutes had elapsed from the time Gaucin grabbed the knife and headed outside.
Gaucin’s mother said she saw the bloody knife lying on the ground and recognized it as the knife Gaucin had taken from the kitchen table, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Gaucin’s mother said she believed that her son tied up the dog with the cord to keep him from making any noise, and once he grabbed the knife, he went outside to kill the dog.
According to court documents, another person said Gaucin approached her that same day and asked for a cigarette. She said Gaucin told her, “I just kill. I just killed my mother’s dog.”
She said she was very scared when she heard Gaucin talk like that. He then asked to use her cellphone, and since she had two phones, she let Gaucin use one of them. She also said that she saw Gaucin’s hands were stained with blood.
A day after the incident, a person who knows Gaucin said he was working in the area of Montana and U.S. 54 when Gaucin approached him and told him that something bad happened and he had “cut his mom’s dog’s throat,” according to court documents.
As we previously reported, El Paso Police investigated what they called a homicide involving a man found dead inside a Central El Paso apartment along the 1200 block of North Laurel.
The victim, later identified as Grajeda, was allegedly stabbed to death by Gaucin the same day he killed his mother’s dog, according to indictment documents obtained by KTSM.
It is unknown how Gaucin was identified as a suspect in the murder or if he knew the victim.
Read: Read More