The Bay Area Reporter is learning of new details in the killing in Palm Springs of Eduardo Xol, a gay man, former San Francisco resident, actor, and reality show star.
On September 10, Xol, 58, was allegedly stabbed 20 times by Richard Joseph Gonzales III, a 34-year-old man with a lengthy juvenile and adult criminal record, according to a charging document obtained by the B.A.R. The Riverside County District Attorney stated in the document that Gonzales had prior criminal convictions that were "numerous and of increasing seriousness."
Implying that it classified the killing of Xol as domestic violence, the DA's office said in the court filing that it intended to introduce "prior acts" of domestic violence committed by Gonzales, which is allowed under California law when prosecuting subsequent domestic violence charges. Palm Springs police told the B.A.R. that Xol and Gonzales were "associates."
Gonzales' past convictions in Riverside County included burglary and resisting arrest in 2015, aggravated battery with serious bodily injury in 2016, burglary in 2017, domestic violence resulting in injury to a spouse in 2020, and vehicle theft in 2022, according to records.
Dispatch audio reviewed by the B.A.R. indicates that at about 5:45 a.m. on Tuesday, September 10, paramedics were called to an apartment in the Latitude 33 Apartment Complex on 449 E. Arenas Road on the report of a stabbing. The building is adjacent to the 300 block of E. Arenas Road, in downtown Palm Springs, where most of the city's LGBTQ bars, nightclubs, and businesses are situated.
Despite being stabbed 20 times, police said Xol was able to phone authorities telling them he was stabbed but he was unable to provide them specific details. He was initially listed in serious but stable condition, but he died in the hospital 10 days later.
About three and a half hours after Xol was stabbed, Palm Springs police received a call from Gonzales at the 100 block of N. Sunrise Way, just a mile east of the crime scene. Gonzales told police he was assaulted the previous night. Police were apparently skeptical of his story and they arrested him for the stabbing of Xol.
Xol had starred in the ABC series "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," starting with the series' second season. The Los Angeles native also was an actor who appeared in the 1998 movie "Bravo" and in several Spanish-language telenovelas.
"We are heartbroken at the tragic loss of our beloved Eduardo Xol," his family said in a statement obtained by the Hollywood Reporter. "We know that his kindness has touched the lives of so many. We ask for that kindness returned now allowing our privacy to be respected as we process our grief. In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made in Eduardo's name to the Lupus Foundation of America as he spent so much of his life in the service of others."
Xol's younger sister, Monica Cajayon, suffers from Lupus. The Lupus Foundation of America noted that Xol rallied support for his sister and built a Zen retreat in her backyard to help her cope with the disease.
SF ties
Xol, then using his original last name Torres, lived in San Francisco in the 1990s. He was a manager at the legendary Castro restaurant, Pozole, whose owner was known for hiring very handsome male employees. He was known to friends as "Eddie." In 1997, he became embroiled in a high-profile homicide case as a witness for the prosecution. His then-roommate and Pozole co-worker Josh Puckett, 17, was accused of killing Vitaly Poliakov, a 29-year-old gay man, in Orinda.
Puckett confessed the killing both to police and in a jailhouse interview with the B.A.R., but he said he acted in self-defense to fend off a sexual assault. Puckett's trial ended in a mistrial after prosecutors introduced inadmissible evidence of Puckett's involvement in a robbery. The B.A.R. talked to the dismissed jurors in the case, many of whom were sympathetic to Puckett. Prosecutors opted not to retry Puckett for murder, and he subsequently agreed to a plea-bargain that resulted in a 13-year, eight-month sentence. He was released on parole in 2008.
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