| Investigators testify in burning death case |
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| Monday, 02 February 2009 | |
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SUN-STAR PHOTO BY MARCI STENBERG Sheriff's Detective Alex Barba writes defendants names and alias' during his testimony in preliminary hearing for the 2007 murder of 27-year-old Rosa Avina on Friday January 30, 2009, in Merced Superior Courtroom 3 with Superior Court Judge Carol Ash presiding. Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009 Investigators testify in burning death case By DANIELLE GAINES This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it N31Avina detective Merced Sun-Star SUN-STAR PHOTO BY MARCI STENBERG Sheriff's Detective Alex Barba writes defendants names and alias' during his testimony in preliminary hearing for the 2007 murder of 27-year-old Rosa Avina on Friday January 30, 2009, in Merced Superior Courtroom 3 with Superior Court Judge Carol Ash presiding. With each tick of the clock, more details became clear in the gruesome 2007 burning death of Rosa Avina: Five men took turns playing the lead role as they plotted and improvised a staged home invasion to shake down Avina for drugs then kill her, Prosecutor Mark Bacciarini said. High on methamphetamine, three of the men drove down a windy Ballico road with Avina in the trunk in the early morning hours of Oct. 24, 2007. The men pulled over at a brush pile, where two of them dumped Avina, bound at her hands and feet and with thick black tape wrapped around her head over her eyes, into an abandoned boat. The two men doused her with gasoline from a 20-ounce Coca-Cola bottle and lit her on fire. Avina died two days later of acute respiratory failure as a result of being set on fire. More than 60 percent of her body was covered with first-, second- and third-degree burns. The details emerged in a six-hour preliminary hearing Friday. Normally, during the course of a preliminary trial, the judge and attorneys hear testimony and decide who will be charged with what and which evidence will be admitted in the criminal trial. In this case, attorneys agreed at the end of the day not to determine charges against the defendants until everyone could review the day's transcript. The case is long and confusing, spanning two days and four towns. The four defendants are on trial with four separate attorneys. Several of the men go by aliases; all of them have a Spanish-language court interpreter. The four men standing trial are Alvaro Montanez Reyes, 20, of Livingston; Omar Cebrero, 19, of Turlock; Luis Alberto Valencia, 26, of Delhi; and Urbano Ortega, 28, of Livingston. Each are charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping for ransom or extortion, torture, and aggravated mayhem. All pleaded not guilty. A fifth person arrested in the case, 19-year-old Luis Vazquez, of Delhi, provided the most detailed testimony Friday afternoon when he was questioned by District Attorney Larry Morse II. Vazquez said he was one of three men who pushed their way into a home on Clifford Avenue in Turlock on the night of Oct. 23, 2007. Vazquez carried a two-by-four piece of lumber and a fake, plasic handgun into the residence. Valencia took the lead and carried a Stevens 200 rifle. Vazquez testified that he thought the goal was to frighten Avina into returning the dope; he did not think they were going to kill or even harm her, he said. According to testimonies on Friday, it all began when Cebrero called Ortega to say that Avina had stolen marijuana and methamphetamine from Cebrero's brother. Ortega then had Reyes, who was a friend of Avina's, lure her to the Clifford Avenue home, where Valencia led the faked invasion. There, Valencia kicked Avina before he bound her arms and legs with white plastic zip ties and wrapped black tape over her eyes and mouth. Outside, Vazquez manuevered the car into a spot on the driveway so the trunk was nearest to the front door of the home. Valencia and another man carried the bound Avina to the trunk. Avina remained in the trunk for several hours before three of the men decided to kill her, according to testimony. Ortega, Cebrero and Valencia got into the Pontiac with Avina in the trunk and drove to a remote spot on South Avenue in Ballico. Ortega told authorities that Cebrero and Valencia pulled Avina from the trunk of the car and forced her to the abandoned boat. After they had trouble lighting Avina on fire, Ortega used his lighter to set a stick on fire and threw it on her after she'd been doused with gasoline, he told investigators. It was Vazquez who found the soda bottle and filled it with gasoline before the men left that morning, according to testimony. The case will go before court again on March 3 at 10 a.m. to finish the preliminary hearing. "Then we will argue whether these guys will be held to answer and on what," Bacciarini said. Some attorneys already made it clear that they will be arguing for lesser charges. Pfeiff said there is not enough evidence to charge his client with three crimes: homicide, mayhem and torture. Davis indicated he had a problem with count two against his client. Bacciarini wants to add enhancements for special circumstances to the existing charges. "All of the defendants have substantial roles," Bacciarini said of the defenses' attempts to rid their clients of charges.Luis Vazquez, the accomplice who testified, pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary of an occupied residence and kidnapping in exchange for nine years and four months in prison. Reporter Danielle Gaines can be reached at (209) 385-2407 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Video: Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II talks about the trial of four suspects in the 2007 burning death of Livingston resident Rosa Avina |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 14 February 2009 ) |
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