Post by CCADP on Aug 23, 2005 6:26:07 GMT -5
Suspect in girl's murder inconsistent, officer says
By Ray Huard
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 23, 2005
Within two months of the gruesome slaying of 9-year-old Laura Arroyo in June 1991, police had turned their attention toward a Chula Vista transit worker as a prime suspect.
Police, in hopes of getting a confession, told Manual Bracamontes in August of that year that they had evidence showing he was responsible for the her death, Chula Vista police Capt. Donald Hunter testified in Superior Court yesterday.
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No such evidence existed at the time, and Bracamontes insisted he had nothing to do with the slaying, Hunter said.
Answering questions from defense attorney Terry Zimmerman, Hunter said that Bracamontes said in the interview in August that "he wasn't the kind of person capable of doing something like this."
Hunter said Bracamontes also was cooperative in 1991 in giving police samples of his blood, saliva and hair and in letting them search his car and the former and current homes of his parents, with whom he was living.
Laura's body was found outside an industrial park in Chula Vista on June 20, about nine hours after she was abducted from her family's condominium in Otay Mesa. She had been beaten, stabbed and strangled.
Bracamontes, 41, lived for a time in 1991 with his girlfriend in the same condominium complex as Laura's family.
In October 2003, Bracamontes was tied to the slaying when a match was found between DNA from hair samples taken from him in 1991 and newly discovered DNA material found on swabs taken from Laura's body in 1991. He is charged with molesting and killing Laura and faces the death penalty if convicted.
Hunter said police were drawn to Bracamontes soon after the crime because of inconsistent statements he made in three interviews with police. Hunter said Bracamontes initially said he hadn't been in the condominium complex until after 10 p.m. June 19. Laura was abducted around 9 p.m.
Other witnesses, including children who had been playing with Laura until around 8:50 p.m. June 19, said they had seen Bracamontes pass them earlier that day and tell one girl that her mother was looking for her.
Bracamontes conceded in later interviews that he had been in the complex and had seen the girls playing, according to testimony from Hunter and former Chula Vista police Officer Robert Rutledge.
In a tape recording of a July 1992 interview Rutledge played for the jury, Bracamontes said "there were a lot of kids playing" when he walked through the complex during the day Laura was abducted. He didn't recall whether Laura was among them but did remember telling one of the girls that her mother was looking for her.
Bracamontes told police he returned to the complex sometime after 10 p.m. when his girlfriend asked him to come over after she learned that Laura had been abducted.
"When I got there, there was cops all over the place," Bracamontes said in the tape recording.
Prosecutor Garland Peed told Judge John H. Thompson that he expects to finish presenting the evidence against Bracamontes tomorrow, with the exception of one witness who is unavailable to testify until Friday. The judge told defense attorneys to be ready to begin presenting their case tomorrow.
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Ray Huard: (619) 542-4597; ray.huard@uniontrib.com
By Ray Huard
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 23, 2005
Within two months of the gruesome slaying of 9-year-old Laura Arroyo in June 1991, police had turned their attention toward a Chula Vista transit worker as a prime suspect.
Police, in hopes of getting a confession, told Manual Bracamontes in August of that year that they had evidence showing he was responsible for the her death, Chula Vista police Capt. Donald Hunter testified in Superior Court yesterday.
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No such evidence existed at the time, and Bracamontes insisted he had nothing to do with the slaying, Hunter said.
Answering questions from defense attorney Terry Zimmerman, Hunter said that Bracamontes said in the interview in August that "he wasn't the kind of person capable of doing something like this."
Hunter said Bracamontes also was cooperative in 1991 in giving police samples of his blood, saliva and hair and in letting them search his car and the former and current homes of his parents, with whom he was living.
Laura's body was found outside an industrial park in Chula Vista on June 20, about nine hours after she was abducted from her family's condominium in Otay Mesa. She had been beaten, stabbed and strangled.
Bracamontes, 41, lived for a time in 1991 with his girlfriend in the same condominium complex as Laura's family.
In October 2003, Bracamontes was tied to the slaying when a match was found between DNA from hair samples taken from him in 1991 and newly discovered DNA material found on swabs taken from Laura's body in 1991. He is charged with molesting and killing Laura and faces the death penalty if convicted.
Hunter said police were drawn to Bracamontes soon after the crime because of inconsistent statements he made in three interviews with police. Hunter said Bracamontes initially said he hadn't been in the condominium complex until after 10 p.m. June 19. Laura was abducted around 9 p.m.
Other witnesses, including children who had been playing with Laura until around 8:50 p.m. June 19, said they had seen Bracamontes pass them earlier that day and tell one girl that her mother was looking for her.
Bracamontes conceded in later interviews that he had been in the complex and had seen the girls playing, according to testimony from Hunter and former Chula Vista police Officer Robert Rutledge.
In a tape recording of a July 1992 interview Rutledge played for the jury, Bracamontes said "there were a lot of kids playing" when he walked through the complex during the day Laura was abducted. He didn't recall whether Laura was among them but did remember telling one of the girls that her mother was looking for her.
Bracamontes told police he returned to the complex sometime after 10 p.m. when his girlfriend asked him to come over after she learned that Laura had been abducted.
"When I got there, there was cops all over the place," Bracamontes said in the tape recording.
Prosecutor Garland Peed told Judge John H. Thompson that he expects to finish presenting the evidence against Bracamontes tomorrow, with the exception of one witness who is unavailable to testify until Friday. The judge told defense attorneys to be ready to begin presenting their case tomorrow.
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Ray Huard: (619) 542-4597; ray.huard@uniontrib.com