Slaying of man burned beyond recognition was quickly solved due to cellphone video, authorities say
The body was burned beyond recognition, wrapped in a rug left in an almond orchard. But the lack of identifying information about the victim proved to be no barrier to solving the crime, authorities said, after a woman offered a tip.
She said she had seen a cellphone video of a man being killed by a former boyfriend. Sure enough, when Merced County sheriffs executed a search warrant at the ex-boyfriend’s home, they found the video. A confession also was obtained from one of his roommates, who said he witnessed the slaying of another roommate at the home and knew where the body had been deposited, the the Los Angeles Times’ L.A. Now blog reports.
Although an autopsy has not yet been performed and the victim has not been identified, the accused killer, Dionicio Gutierrez-Salazar, 37, and his surviving roommates, Francisco Alvarez, 25, and Alexis Eduardo Garcia-Jimenez, 25, are being held in lieu of $1 million bail on suspicion of murder.
Sheriff’s sergeant Delray Shelton said the slaying began with an argument and progressed to a physical fight between Gutierrez-Salazar and the victim, as another roommate recorded it. Shelton said the victim was beaten and stabbed and may still have been alive when his body was set on fire.
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