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San Jose Stabbing Victim IDd; Brothers Sought Following Standoff

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) - Police have identified a man who was stabbed to death in San Jose early Friday morning as 51-year-old Joseph Cotta.

Cotta was found suffering from multiple stab wounds at about 1:45 a.m. that day outside a home in the 200 block of Cleveland Avenue. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.

The stabbing was reported by a resident, who cooperated with arriving officers.

However, another resident refused to cooperate, locking himself in the home and prompting a tense standoff after officers concluded that there were weapons in the house, according to police.

The San Jose police SWAT team responded, and the home was surrounded for hours until the suspect surrendered to police at around 11 a.m.

That suspect and several other residents of the home were briefly detained then released.

Investigators were seeking two transient brothers who they believe were involved in the stabbing and fled before police arrived.

Jonathan Alexander Bess, 20, and Brian James Bess, 23, were wanted on suspicion of murder and remain at large, police said.

This death marked San Jose's 11th homicide of the year.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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