Opinion ID: 2517801
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The murder of Luis Reyna and its aftermath

Text: On July 15, 1988, defendant made bail in the Mishell assault case, and he was released from custody. On the morning of July 18, Reyna left his home for a meeting with defendant and was never again seen alive. On July 26, Reyna's decapitated and dismembered body was found in an isolated location near the Lafayette Reservoir. Overwhelming evidence linked defendant to Reyna's death. Reyna's sister Yolanda testified that, on the evening before his disappearance, Reyna received a call from defendant. During the call, she overheard Reyna say he was not afraid of defendant and intended to tell the truth. The next morning, after calling work to say he would be late, Reyna told his mother he was going to meet defendant around the corner. Reyna, who did not own a gun, then departed, leaving behind his wallet, car keys, and automobile. He never returned. His family contacted the police. Around 4 p.m. on July 19, defendant's truck was found at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station, its interior bloodstained and its bench seat missing. Water residue in the truck's interior indicated it had been hosed or washed out. Oberman had seen the bench seat in the truck the previous afternoon. On July 20, while they were riding together, defendant handed Oberman a gun and told her to throw it in a sewer. She did so. On July 21, after making financial arrangements for an extended absence, the couple flew to San Diego and entered Mexico. Meanwhile, on July 19, a hiker in the Lafayette hills came upon a human hand. On July 26, an unclothed human torso, missing head and hands, was found at a separate Lafayette hills location. The torso was positively identified as Reyna's, and the severed hand perfectly matched the torso's handless left arm. On July 28, items of clothing, an ax, and a saw were found near where the body had lain. A witness who had done construction work with defendant identified the ax, a somewhat rare type, as defendant's. An autopsy indicated that Reyna had been dead for several days before his body was found. Except for the decapitation and dismemberment, the body showed no external or internal signs of human-inflicted trauma. A cause of death could not be determined. Forensic experts opined that the head and hands had been severed by sharp, incisive blows, and that damage to certain of the severed bones was consistent with the use of a saw. In March 1989, a skull, positively identified as Reyna's, was found near where the body had been discovered. Four years later, Dr. Herrmann, a pathologist, examined the skull. He opined that the severed neck vertebrae had been cut either by a sharp object, or more likely, based on small ridges in the bone, by a saw. Though missing its lower jaw, the skull showed no other sign of trauma, such as a gunshot wound. After July 1988, defendant and Oberman stayed in various Mexican locations. They obtained false identification papers. In September 1988, they bought a Mexican residence. Thereafter, Oberman returned to California. She worked in La Jolla and Palm Springs to earn money for their mutual support. In February 1989, while on a surprise visit to Mexico, Oberman argued with defendant over his affair with another woman. During the argument, defendant confessed he had killed Reyna, and was not sorry. Defendant recounted the following: He picked Reyna up in his truck on the morning of July 18, 1988, and drove Reyna to a park in the hills. Reyna again told defendant he would not recant his police statement in the Mishell case. Reyna also called Oberman a whore. Defendant retrieved a gun from the toolbox in the rear of the vehicle and shot Reyna, who was sitting in the passenger seat, in the temple. In March 1989, Oberman returned to Palm Springs. At her insistence, defendant followed. On September 11, 1989, FBI agents arrested him there while he was driving with Oberman. Upon his arrest, defendant said to Oberman, don't tell them anything. In a letter to Oberman from jail, postmarked July 6, 1992, defendant said he would tell her, under separate cover, what he expect[ed] [her] to remember if she was called as a trial witness. A second letter, postmarked the same date, set forth a version of Reyna's death in which Reyna pulled a gun, which went off during a struggle, inflicting a fatal head wound on Reyna. The letter recited that defendant had dumped Reyna's body because both he and Oberman assumed the police would never believe him, and he needed time to consult with his lawyer. According to the letter, defendant fled the country to forestall civil suits and because of death threats from the Reyna family. Defendant wrote further that he hoped to avoid a harsh sentence in the Mishell case by claiming provocation. At trial, Oberman insisted the letter's recitations about Reyna's death were false. She testified she had never discussed this version of events with defendant, or heard of it, until she received the letter.