Yucaipa double-slaying trial begins
Mike Cruz, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/27/2008 10:46:21 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO - On a dark and desolate section of Live Oak Canyon Road in Yucaipa, a white Chevrolet Astro van pulled into a turnout and three men jumped out to urinate.
In December of 2006, this van had traveled from the Los Angeles area and its driver, according to prosecutors, was following a deadly plan targeting one of two passengers, 31-year-old Salvador Felix, over a $30,000 drug debt.
With their zippers down, the two victims were each shot in the head and fell to the rocky roadside. Inside the right sock of Felix, deputies found a cocked and loaded .25-caliber handgun.
The second victim, 52-year-old Pedro Sanchez, was shot to eliminate any witnesses, Deputy District Attorney Beth Houser told the jury during her opening statement Monday in San Bernardino Superior Court.
Upon hearing two gunshots, a nearby resident called sheriff's deputies, turned off his house lights and stepped outside quickly enough to see an Astro van make a U-turn and head back to the freeway.
While prosecutors said defendant Alberto "Beto" Oropeza Delgadillo is the shooter, the defense contended the shots were fired by a mystery man whose first name is all that is known.
"I never shot that weapon. It was Javier," prosecutors said Delgadillo told detectives.
But, according to prosecutors, there is no Javier.
Authorities were tipped off to Delgadillo, 23, when he called sheriff's detectives about the victims and his phone number showed up on caller ID. One of the victims, Felix, is a cousin of Delgadillo's wife.
Detectives found Delgadillo at his Lynwood home and arrested him at the San Bernardino Police Station - nine days after the deadly shooting.
Downey-based defense lawyer Javier Serrano told jurors that he plans to call family members of Delgadillo to testify as witnesses.
"They will tell you that Javier is all too real," Serrano said.
The defense also chided detectives for not doing a DNA test on a black duffel bag found in the van. A gun and drugs found in the bag were kept for evidence, but the bag and clothing were released.
Detective Neal Rodriguez testified that he had been told by Delgadillo's wife that the bag and clothing belonged to the defendant.
"At the time, I already knew whose clothes they were," Rodriguez testified. When asked by Serrano if he felt there was any significance to keeping the bag and clothes, Rodriguez responded, "I did not."
Testimony in the case is expected to continue today.
Delgadillo faces two counts of murder, according to court records. If convicted of first-degree murder, the penalty for each count would be 25 years to life in state prison.
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