EGN NEWS DESK
Jurors may also have to decide on between wildly differing accounts of the final moments of Terry Cheek’s life as she left her dwelling in Jurupa Valley for the evening shift at work in San Juan Capistrano.
And it’s a case wherein the person with whom Cheeck was having an affair — Horace Roberts — served 20 years in jail for killing her, a homicide {that a} judge dominated he didn’t commit. Roberts, who was paid $11 million by Riverside County after his obvious wrongful conviction, is because of testify subsequent week.
And possibly, instructed John Dorr, co-attorney for 67-year-old defendant Googie Rene Harris Sr., prosecutors might need had the appropriate man in Roberts all alongside.
“Talk about your all-time traditional whodunit,” Dorr mentioned throughout opening statements on the Riverside County Hall of Justice. “Was it Horace Roberts? Was it Googie Harris Sr.? Was it Googie Harris Jr.? Was it Joaquin Leal? Was it a mixture of two or extra of those males? Was it any person else?
“At the tip of this case, you’re going to be left with these questions. Ladies and gents, that isn’t proof past an inexpensive doubt.”
Harris Sr. and Leal III have every pleaded not responsible to 1 rely of first-degree homicide in Cheek’s loss of life. District Attorney Mike Hestrin will search the loss of life penalty if they’re convicted as charged. Hestrin has alleged a particular circumstance of homicide for monetary achieve that makes them eligible for capital punishment.
Cheek, 32, was final seen in April 1998 after she left for work at Quest Diagnostics.
Roberts was convicted of second-degree homicide in 1999 and sentenced to fifteen years to life in jail after the primary two of his three trials resulted in hung juries. Harris Sr. is accused of framing Roberts and even showing at his parole hearings to make sure his continued incarceration.
Roberts’ Nissan truck was discovered about 2 miles from Cheek’s physique, which was positioned on rocks at Lee Lake close to Corona after she was strangled to loss of life. Her purse was present in Roberts’ condo, a watch just like one he owned was discovered close to Cheek’s physique and he made inconsistent statements to prosecutors, together with denying the affair to keep away from working afoul of office relationship guidelines, it was mentioned Tuesday.
The elder Harris and Leal had been charged after DNA proof exonerated Roberts, who was assisted by the California Innocence Project. The defendants’ DNA was discovered on Cheek, Managing Deputy District Attorney Emily Hanks mentioned.
Hanks informed jurors Tuesday that Cheek and her husband, Googie Harris Sr., had been estranged. She moved in with Quest co-worker Roberts in his Temecula condo. She later moved again in with Harris Sr. on the home within the Glen Avon neighborhood of what would turn into Jurupa Valley.
Harris Sr. was decided to finish Cheek’s affair with Roberts, Hanks mentioned.
On April 13, 1998, Hanks mentioned, Harris Sr. walked Cheek to the storage as she left for work. Inside the storage, Leal — Cheek’s nephew by marriage — was ready. Harris Jr. had introduced Roberts’ truck, which Cheek generally drove, to the home. Harris Jr. turned away as Leal and Harris Sr. strangled Cheek, Hanks mentioned. They then positioned her physique within the passenger seat of Roberts’ truck. Harris Jr. and Leal then dumped the physique, Hanks mentioned.
Leal, now 58, confessed to his girlfriend, Nancy Doud, that he helped kill Cheek, Hanks mentioned.
But Leal’s co-attorney, Joseph Galasso, who impugned the integrity of Doud as a meth addict, mentioned Harris Jr. — and never his shopper — killed Cheek. Harris Jr. is awaiting sentencing after he pleaded responsible to accent after the actual fact, which Galasso mentioned carries a couple of one-year sentence. Galasso mentioned a earlier homicide cost and a 25-to-life jail sentence continues to be hanging over the top of Harris Jr. and may very well be reinstated if the District Attorney’s Office is dissatisfied together with his testimony, which is anticipated on Wednesday.
“(Harris Jr. and his legal professional) crafted a narrative that Googie (Jr.) then offered to the Riverside District Attorney’s Office, telling them precisely what they wished to listen to, and naturally distancing himself from that homicide,” Galasso informed jurors. He mentioned Leal was accountable just for serving to dump Cheek’s physique and that he had no motive to kill.
Harris Jr., alternatively, Galasso claimed, had been caught by Cheek molesting one in all her daughters, against the law for which Harris Jr. has not been charged. He additionally hoped to inherit the home.
“He had each motive to need her dead,” Galasso mentioned. “They’re relying on his phrase and his phrase alone so that you can imagine that my shopper is the one who killed.”
Galasso mentioned a convicted assassin, Anthony Salcedo, will testify that Harris Sr. informed Salcedo in jail that Harris Jr. — and never Leal –killed Cheek.
Dorr informed jurors that Roberts’ truck was by no means dropped at the Jurupa Valley dwelling. Instead, he mentioned, Cheek received in her white Volkswagen and safely drove away the evening she disappeared. Her daughter will testify that Cheek had a particular black purse along with her that evening, a handbag that was discovered at Roberts’ dwelling a number of days after Cheek’s loss of life.
“Horace Roberts couldn’t clarify how or why that purse was in his condo in Temecula if he had nothing to do with this homicide,” Dorr mentioned.
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