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M O N D AY, M AY 08- M AY 14, 2023
Riverside police honored at Law Enforcement Appreciation Awards
Jury deliberations start in sanity trial of CV man who murdered girlfriend
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By Staff
By City News Service
ury deliberations got underway Thursday in the sanity trial of a 28-yearold Coachella Valley man who fatally stabbed his girlfriend during a frenzied attack, as well as burned down her house and killed her dog. The same Riverside jury that convicted Christian Alejandro Pacheco of the murder of 30-year-old Elilia Valdez Garcia of Thermal will now decide whether he was sane at the time of the crime. The panel on April 20 found Pacheco guilty of first-degree murder, arson, assault with a deadly weapon, animal cruelty and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony. Pacheco had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and his defense counsel maintains that he was mentally incompetent when he murdered Garcia. After eight days of testimony, the prosecution and defense delivered closing statements at the Riverside Hall of Justice. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Walter Kubelun sent jurors behind closed doors Thursday afternoon, but deliberations were brief, and the jury was ordered to return to resume weighing evidence Monday. Pacheco is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta. According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, the defendant displayed “an aggressive temperament (while) using drugs,” mainly methamphetamine, and he was not welcome at either of his parents’ homes. He was in a rocky relationship with Garcia and stole her brother’s Hyundai, prosecutors said.
Early on the morning of March 17, 2017, he went to the victim’s doublewide trailer in the area of Avenue 60 and Van Buren Street, telling her to come with him, and the two drove off in her brother’s Hyundai, according to court papers. Prosecutors said that later that morning, Pacheco attacked Garcia, using a knife to stab her numerous times in the head and neck. “The stab wounds to the back of the neck were lethal, approximately six to eight inches deep,” according to the brief. The defendant dumped her remains on a dirt road leading into a small private cemetery near Body of Christ Church at 62950 Monroe Street in Thermal. Around noon the same day, Pacheco returned to Garcia’s trailer and set it aflame. A neighbor went to see what was happening and encountered Pacheco in the Hyundai with the victim’s Chihuahua. “The defendant told him, ‘This witch is (expletive) crazy. I tried to kill her, and she wouldn’t die. I saw the devil in her face, and she wouldn’t die,’” according to the brief. The man told authorities that as he called the fire department, Garcia sped away. A witness, Duncan Cameron, was not far from Garcia’s burning residence, taking pictures of coconut trees, when the defendant pulled alongside him, asking for money. Cameron became frightened by Pacheco’s behavior and jumped into his Mercedes to get away. He told sheriff’s detectives Pacheco tailed him, tapping his bumper and causing the witness to lose See CV man Pg 02
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he annual Riverside County Law Enforcement Appreciation Awards were held recently, and members of the Riverside Police Department received several honors for incidents that occurred in the last year, the city announced Thursday. Robbery-Homicide Detective Sgt. Brett Stennett was recognized for his work in solving the murder of an 18-year-old woman who was allegedly killed by her ex-boyfriend. Officers Benjamin Rodriguez and Jorge Estrada were honored in the Exceptional Lifesaving category for reviving a 2-year-old child who nearly drowned in a pool. Retired Lt. Christian Dinco was honored for his lifetime achievement and service of 30 years in law enforcement The Riverside Police Department and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department received awards for Collaborative Investigative Recognition after their joint efforts in the triple homicide, arson and kidnapping investigation that occurred in the 11200 block of Price Court. Riverside Police Explorer Daniela De la Cruz won a $1,000 scholarship. Investigative Excellence — Detective Brett Stennett “Category Criteria: Recognize an officer for exceptional execution of responsibilities by successfully concluding a major investigation or by demonstrating outstanding investigative or interrogative techniques in the course of an investigation,” according to the city’s announcement. On March 16, 2022, Riverside police responded after an 18-year-old woman was found dead in her home with minor visible injuries. An autopsy revealed the cause of death was asphyxia that resulted from strangulation, and there was evidence of blunt force trauma and sexual assault.
Stennett was assigned to investigate the crime a day later with minimal leads, officials said. Stennett’s first move was to immediately return to the victim’s residence with a search warrant, where he found the room cleaned and items thrown away. He then located surveillance video from the victim’s apartment complex and the surrounding neighborhood and interviewed family and friends. Stennett learned that on the morning of the woman’s death, the she was sleeping when an ex-boyfriend showed up at her apartment to return property, according to the city of Riverside. The victim’s brother took the returned property, and the ex-boyfriend left. The brother left for school, leaving the victim home alone, and a few hours later her family found the victim deceased in her bedroom. “Detective Stennett served a search warrant at the ex-boyfriend’s residence, interviewed him, and collected his cell phone,” according to the city’s announcement. “The ex-boyfriend said he had not seen the victim in over a month. However, statements he gave were inconsistent with cellphone data and surveillance video. He was released at that time pending further investigation.” Stennett closely examined the ex-boyfriend’s cell phone, which showed that he recorded video of himself assaulting the victim on the social media platform Snapchat, the city reported. The investigation determined that the Snapchat videos occurred after the ex-boyfriend returned the victim’s property and after her brother left the apartment. The ex-boyfriend tried to delete the video evidence from his Snapchat account, “but the determination of Detective Stennett and computer forensic technicians led them
From left, Riverside Officers Jorge Estrada and Benjamin Rodriguez, along with LEAC Chair and retired Riverside County Undersheriff Dennis Vrooman, attend the 2023 Law Enforcement Appreciation Awards. | Photo courtesy of the city of Riverside
to the discovery of the hidden videos,” officials said. “The techs at Snapchat were even baffled how they were able to recover the deleted videos. The evidence ultimately revealed he was present at the time of the victim’s death.” Now a prime suspect in the killing, the suspect was arrested and police served a search warrant at his parent’s residence, according to the city of Riverside. The search turned up evidence related to the crime. A “jailhouse operation” followed, and the suspect admitted to committing the crime. He is currently awaiting trial. “The young victim of murder and sexual assault would be without justice if it weren’t for the hard work and tenacity of Detective Brett Stennett,” officials said. Exceptional Lifesaving — Officer Benjamin Rodriguez and Officer Jorge Estrada “Category Criteria: This recognition involves one or more agency personnel distinguishing themselves by personally performing an exceptional act or acts that saved one or more human lives (not necessarily under
conditions requiring bravery, or exposure to great personal risk), where the victim(s) survived the incident,” officials said. In October, Riverside police got a 911 call from a distraught juvenile who said his 2-year-old brother had drowned in a pool and was unconscious, unresponsive and not breathing. The toddler’s parents were attempting CPR, but neither knew the proper technique. “The 911 call-taker kept the parents calm and gave instructions on how to properly perform CPR while officers and medical aid were being dispatched,” officials said. School Resource Officer Benjamin Rodriguez heard the dispatcher’s call and left the incident he was involved in to rush to the residence where the drowning occurred. Rodriguez arrived on scene, ran to the backyard and found the family surrounding the unconscious child. As the boy’s frantic family members begged him for help, RodriSee Law Enforcement Pg 31