Opinion ID: 844248
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Defendant's Return to Oregon

Text: While driving with Pierce to Oregon in the early morning hours of May 9, defendant described the shootings that he had admitted before to both Pierce and Aguirre. Defendant said he shot the male victim because he saw defendant's face, and that he shot the female victim because she freak[ed] out. In Oregon, defendant gave the .357 Magnum handgun to Pierce. Pierce gave it to his mother. On May 10, defendant contacted his friend, Antoin Jackson, in Oregon, and stayed overnight at Jackson's house. On May 11, defendant communicated with someone by page and phone. Afterwards, he seemed nervous, and made incriminating statements to Jackson. Defendant said he was going to hell and to prison for life because he had killed someone. The victims were a bitch who scream[ed] too loud, and a man who walked in while defendant was burglarizing a house. Defendant told Jackson that he stayed in that house for a few hours, and was real high at the time. Defendant identified the murder weapon as the .357 Magnum handgun he gave to Pierce, and admitted trying to steal a car during the crime. Meanwhile, on May 11, sheriff's detectives in Washington County, Oregon, learned that an arrest warrant had issued in the present case, and that the Torrance police sought help in apprehending defendant. Hence, that same day, the Oregon detectives contacted Pierce, who cooperated in the investigation. Pierce disclosed defendant's incriminating statements. Pierce also helped retrieve the gold watch and the .357 Magnum handgun he had obtained from defendant. All such evidence was given to the lead investigators in Torrance. Through Pierce, Oregon detectives contacted defendant's friend, Suely Caramelo. She gave them items she had received from defendant after his Torrance tripitems that were given, in turn, to the Torrance police. They included a woman's gold and diamond ring and a multicolored cloth bag with coins inside. Caramelo also said that defendant was at Jackson's house. Defendant was arrested a short time later at Jackson's house. Items found in his possession included a fanny pack with a small chrome pistol inside, and a bag of jewelry. Defendant was wearing a gold and diamond ring at the time. After being told about the murder warrant in Torrance, and read his Miranda rights (see Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 [16 L.Ed.2d 694, 86 S.Ct. 1602]), defendant remarked that he was the wrong guy, that he became involved with the wrong people, and that they had threatened him. During the drive to the sheriff's station, defendant made similar statements that four Mexican gang members forced him to take the gun and jewelry near the spot where two people were killed. Defendant denied knowing anything about the victims, including gender, and could not explain how Pierce and Aguirre might have acquired such information. When told that the female victim had survived and identified him as the lone intruder, defendant turned pale, breathed deeply, and said, Shit.