Home Invasion Murderer Convicted
MURRIETA (CNS) – An ex-con who joined his best friend in a “home invasion assassination” of a 43-year-old Menifee man and perpetrated a takeover robbery in which children and others were assaulted was convicted of first-degree murder and a dozen additional charges, court minutes confirmed last Thursday.
After deliberating less than two days, a Murrieta jury last Wednesday afternoon found Rodolfo Garcia, 44, of Perris guilty of gunning down Silvano Gutierrez Esteves.
Along with murder, jurors convicted Garcia of four counts of armed robbery, three counts of kidnapping to commit robbery, two counts each of false imprisonment and firearm assault and one count of burglary, with multiple sentence-enhancing allegations of using a firearm during felonious offenses. They acquitted him of carjacking.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Johnnetta Anderson scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 31 at the Southwest Justice Center.
Garcia is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
His former co-defendant and childhood friend, 34-year-old Jesus Ledesma Guzman of Lancaster, was similarly charged but was killed in a gunfight with U.S. Marshals trying to arrest him in an eastern portion of California almost eight years ago.
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