Dr. Insanity - Killer Grandma Celebrates After Killing Her Son

Episode Date: January 3, 2026

This case goes down as one of the most shocking in history... this is the case of cynthia cdebaca. subscribe for more true crime cases! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you're alive, you're not. Oh, good, good, good, good, good. Oh, thank you. This is 63-year-old Cynthia Sita Baca, a once-beloved grandmother and wife who chillingly was hiding a dark secret. When Cynthia suffered a stroke, her daughter Laura agreed to let her stay in their guesthouse while she recovered, allowing her to live in comfort near her family. But comfort is far from what Cynthia experienced, as inside the lavish, expensive,

house in California lived a troubled and unhappy family. My brother would tell me that she didn't approve of the way he disciplined the kids. On the other hand, my brother didn't approve the way she would discipline his kids. While outwardly being known as an agreeable and friendly guy, Lara's husband, Jaward, was secretly a harsh and aggressive father. In what he simply called tough love, he would verbally and physically abuse his family, as well as break his children's toys when they misbehaved. My aunt Cindy would be on the back patio smoking

because she wasn't allowed to smoke in the house and he would be out there watering and he would see, oh, where I see smoke, I see fire. Got to put out the fire and he would hose my aunt down with the hose. He did it to my cousin too, to Laura, his wife. At one point in a bout of rage, he even threw out Cynthia's late husband's ashes. But despite all this, the family put up with Jaward's actions

Until one day, everything took a horrifying turn for the worst. Cynthia had purchased a revolver from a local munitions store. All she needed now was the trigger, and it wouldn't take long for one to appear. On her 62nd birthday, before heading out to her granddaughter's Spelling Bee, Juward said something that filled her with rage. You can't go like that because it looks like you're ghetto in this. Just a few minutes later, five gunshots would be heard echoing across the neighborhood, then five more and five more again.

Jaward's body was found later sprawled across the kitchen floor, covered from head to toe, in 12 bullet holes. Meanwhile, Cynthia had traveled to a nearby Denny's to order breakfast, and then went to casually celebrate her birthday at a casino, completely unfazed by the horrific acts that she'd just committed. But due to her jaded past with Jaward, it wouldn't take long for police to land on Cynthia as a leading suspect, and they picked her up at a coffee shop just hours after the murder.

But who would suspect a sweet old grandma had just killed her own daughter's husband? Cynthia knew that in custody, all she'd have to do was spin a couple lies, put on an act, and by all accounts, she'd be set free. Well, unfortunately, Laura's husband has passed away. We're going to ask you some questions. We're going to ask you some questions because we're trying to figure out what happened today, okay? All right. Likely realizing that she wasn't going to be winning any awards,

it wouldn't be long before she dropped the act, and her tears turned to disdain. What did you think of him? Why do you say that? That's the big thumbs down. You didn't like him. Eventually, Cynthia remembered how to speak and told detectives about the abuse that her family, had endured because of Jaward, recounting the times that he would spray his family with water, verbally attack his kids, and even choke his wife. So while detectives were now aware that Cynthia

wasn't the biggest fan of Jaward, they didn't expect what would happen next. Did anybody try to stop him? Can't stop him. It sounds like somebody had to stop him, or? I did. I did. I was guilty. Somebody had to stop you. I did. Is he dead? You tell me.

Gotta be dead. I think he's dead? I hope so. Cynthia's near instant admission of guilt was followed almost immediately by a chilling recount of the gruesome event. You liked your gun from your purse, and then what happened?

Went shot him. Wasn't enough. After she fired all five shots out of that revolver, she chose to go all the way to her car and reload five more rounds into her gun. She walked back into the backyard and found the victim bleeding and crawling trying to get away.

And at that time, she pumped five more shots into his body. She still wasn't done. She still chose to go to her car and load five more rounds. She pulled out that revolver and fired five more shots until the victim was finally dead. It was also later revealed that just a few weeks before the event, Cynthia had traveled to a local gun range to take shooting lessons with the same. same gun she purchased to kill Jaward. Another obvious sign that the murder was planned and premeditated. But premeditated murders are usually done in a state of pure rage where the killer

is adamant that their victim must be dead by the end. Very rarely are they done with this level of nonchalance. Did you check to see anything was doing it? I didn't care. And it seemed as though she truly didn't care, as of course after the murder, she went out to enjoy her birthday with breakfast, gambling, and coffee. Cynthia also showed no remorse whatsoever when she asked if she even felt bad for what she did. You don't feel bad about it? No. Would you do it again? Yes. He's dead. He's dead, ma'am. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh boy. Oh, boy. After less than 10 minutes of interrogation from Cynthia's denial through to her complete admission and celebration of Jaward's murder, detectives decided it was time to conclude

the investigation. Cynthia's family was led in to say their final goodbyes, and it was here that they truly realized they were living in a nightmare that nobody could ever hope to experience. Through Laura's shrill and uncontrollable agony, Cynthia sits there. but pleased with what she's done, a cold-blooded, unremorseful killer granny. And while her granddaughter was asked to come say goodbye for the final time, Cynthia was shown the true scale of the havoc she'd wreaked on this family, as she refused to even enter the room.

Oh, honey! This notion of Cynthia being this cold-blooded killer granny was enforced further by the reply she gave when the detective advised her to pray to a higher power that she would be treated well through the justice system. Whoever you pray to, you make sure to you... Have you prayed to higher power. I prayed today. Okay. First time I ever prayed.

What'd you pray for? Hope you died. Oh, boy. Three years after the shooting of Jaward Ustaquio, the trial of Cynthia Sita Baca began. While it was admittedly obvious that Cynthia had indeed killed Jaward, the main questions the trial aimed to explore were, was the murder premeditated, and was it justifiable? The case against premeditation

was fairly easy to debunk. Remember, Cynthia had bought the gun used in the murder just a few weeks before, and she'd even visited a shooting range to hone her skills to make sure the kill was carried out swiftly. It also didn't help that in this interrogation, Cynthia had said this. But the idea of the homicide being justified, but the idea of the homicide being justified, was slightly harder to argue with. Cynthia had claims that Jaward was an abuser, both verbally and physically. In fact, the defense even had Jaward's wife Laura on their side. She attempted to argue that he indeed was abusive and that it could be excused that in an act of passion or rage, Cynthia had discharged the weapon to protect her family from this man that

was supposedly destroying it from the inside out. But of course, the extraordinary interrogation tape was once again cited to dismantle the case. And a few weeks later, a decision was made. And fix the degree thereof as murder in the first degree. This is a tragedy. I love my mom. I love Juard. There's no win here.

Not for anyone. It's just complete sadness. Cynthia Cedabaca was sentenced to 50 years in prison. At 65 years old, that meant she'd be living the rest of her life behind bars and forced to live with the weight of her actions, rest of her actions resting on her shoulders until the day she dies.