Legal News

Damning evidence found in Los Gatos murder trial

By Richard Binder

Police testified last Wednesday that a search of Lucio Estrada's apartment turned up more than a dozen bags of evidence, including books on assassinations, an assault rifle, and a hat matching one found at the scene of the crime where Mark Achilli was murdered.  A trail of evidence leaving the scene of the crime included a photograph of the murdered man torn in two, police went on to say.

Achilli, a popular restaurant and bar owner, was shot seven times March 14 in broad daylight in the driveway of his upscale townhouse by an assailant clad in a black jacket, black pants and a black baseball cap. Esequiel "Paul'' Garcia, 30, a mortgage broker and real estate agent with no previous criminal record, is accused of paying bouncer Daniel Chaidez, 24, to arrange the killing. Prosecutors intend to show that Chaidez secured the services of his cousin Miguel Chaidez and two Southern California men ? alleged shooter Estrada and driver Robert Jacome ? to assassinate Achilli.

Garcia, Daniel Chaidez and Estrada face murder charges and have pleaded not guilty. The other two defendants, Miguel Chaidez and Jacome, will plead guilty to lesser charges in exchange for their testimony next week and during the trial about their roles in the plot. Neither appeared in court Wednesday.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on December 15, 2008 (boomark / email).