Testimony begins in trial for man accused of murdering Covina woman

POMONA - Eileen Nicole Ponce-Orta was unhappy in her marriage, and had been spending more time with another man: Joseph Gary Orta, her husband's cousin.

The two were seen together in the days leading up to Ponce-Orta's death, and prosecutors believe Orta, then a recent parolee, was responsible for the Covina woman's fatal stabbing.

Ponce-Orta's family found her body on Feb. 15, 2008. She was wrapped in blankets and left in her van, which had been abandoned in a parking lot near Pomona City Hall.

Jurors heard the details of Ponce-Orta's final days today in testimony during Orta's murder trial in Pomona Superior Court.

Three days before her body was found, Ponce-Orta, 22, didn't pick up her husband from his job as the couple had arranged, said Deputy District Attorney Stacy Okun-Wiese in her opening statement.

The next day, Ponce-Orta, Orta and Ponce-Orta's 2-year-old daughter visited Orta's mother's home in Fontana. When they left the next morning, it was the last time anyone saw her alive - expect for her alleged killer.

A key prosecution witness - one whose testimony wasn't presented last year at Orta's preliminary hearing - is Orta's cousin, Albert Matthew Sandoval.

Sandoval told police that when he saw Orta, 36, the day before the discovery of Ponce-Orta's body, he saw what appeared to be a body in the back of the van that was later abandoned in Pomona, Okun-Wiese said.

Sandoval recalled seeing toes inside painted with light-blue nail polish, Okun-Wiese said.

Ponce-Orta's mother, Tracy Ponce, testified this morning that she believed Joseph Orta and her daughter may have been romantically involved.

The two had been spending more time together as Ponce-Orta became dissatisfied with her husband, who reportedly told her she'd gained weight.

Her unhappiness in her marriage seemed to make her more receptive to Orta's advances, Tracy Ponce testified.

"I believe he had romantic feelings for my daughter," she testified.

The day before Ponce-Orta's body was discovered, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies contacted Tracy Ponce and told her that Ponce-Orta's daughter, now 5, had been dropped off at a sheriff's station.

"My heart dropped because my daughter never left her baby," Ponce said. "I knew something was wrong."

The morning of Feb. 14, 2008, Ponce-Orta, her daughter and Joseph Orta woke up at Orta's mother's home in Fontana, according to testimony from Orta's mother's husband, Raul Sanchez De La Cruz. The three left together between 9 and 11, he said.

The next morning, Tracy Ponce said her daughter's husband called her and said Pomona police had discovered the couple's van in a parking lot beside Pomona Superior Court.

When Tracy Ponce and two relatives found the van, Ponce said she saw Ponce-Orta's purse inside. The contents of the purse were scattered near the front-passenger seat.

She said she opened the sliding door on the van's passenger side, and saw what appeared to be a pile of blankets on the floor.

"I pulled one of the blankets and that's when I saw my girl's toes," Ponce said.

Ponce-Orta died from a stab wound to her neck.

Jurors heard details today of a 2001 incident when Joseph Orta stabbed De La Cruz several times during an argument. One of the stab wounds was to De La Cruz's neck, he testified.

Joseph Orta's defense attorney, Lesley Sandra Gordon, did not give an opening statement today. She will have the option of addressing the jury at the start of the defense portion of the case.

Joseph Orta's cousin, 22-year-old Sandoval, was charged with murder for allegedly serving as the getaway driver in the Dec. 5, 2008 shooting death in Pomona of Miguel Martin, 24.

Prosecutors offered him a plea bargain in the case in exchange for his cooperation with law enforcement. Sandoval testified against his co-defendant in the trial for Martin's killing, and will also testify against Joseph Orta.

Martin's alleged killer, 17-year-old Jose Luis Gutierrez, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced last week to 40 years to life in prison.

June 3, 2010: Tracy Ponce's last name corrected.