Opinion ID: 1113193
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Murder of Gregorio Ante.

Text: The People introduced evidence that Gregorio Ante, a 78-year-old Bakersfield resident, was killed in his South King Street home around midday on January 13, 1979. The cause of death was a deep slash wound to the throat, which severed Gregorio's carotid arteries and blocked his breathing passage. Moments before his death, Gregorio had received $200 in cash from his grandson Dennis Hall for the sale of a piano. Gregorio placed this money in the pocket of his T-shirt, over which he was wearing a Pendleton shirt. Gregorio then gave his son, Henry, $20 from that pocket to buy parts for a faucet repair. As Henry left to purchase the parts, he saw two men with a motorcycle in front of the house. [3] Soon thereafter, David Ante, another of Gregorio's grandsons, telephoned Gregorio and received no response. David immediately went to Gregorio's residence and found his grandfather's body. There was $180 in cash in Gregorio's T-shirt pocket, but money was missing from his pants pockets, the living room and master bedroom had been ransacked, and a container of coins was missing from the house. Further evidence about this incident was presented by defense witness Victor Cordova. Victor, a seller and user of phencyclidene (PCP), testified as follows: Defendant arrived at the Cordova home during the morning of January 13. Also present were Victor's wife Maury, and Maury's mother and sister, Kathy and Lisa Davis. Defendant's hands and arms were scratched and cut, and his shirt was bloody. His appearance, behavior, and incoherent speech indicated he was loaded on PCP. Victor cut a piece of dangling flesh from a deep wound on defendant's left arm. Defendant registered no pain. Victor dressed the wound and gave defendant a fresh shirt. Defendant smoked part of a PCP cigarette furnished by Victor and continued his bizarre behavior and speech. He made advances to Kathy Davis, kept trying to wipe a mole from Lisa Davis's face, and challenged Victor to deck [him] ... out. Unwilling to cope with defendant in his intoxicated state, Victor decided to transport defendant to the home of defendant's brother. The two men proceeded in that direction on Victor's motorcycle. Near the intersection of Brundage and South King Streets, the motorcycle's chain came off the sprocket. Victor pushed the disabled cycle to a nearby garage and telephoned his wife Maury for rescue. Meantime, defendant, who was carrying a can of beer in a sack, walked off briskly toward a nearby home on South King Street. Two or three minutes later, defendant returned and announced he had just killed a guy. Defendant seemed concerned about a beer can he had left in the victim's house, and he demanded that Victor retrieve the can for him. When Victor refused, defendant reentered the house himself and soon returned holding the can. Using throat-slitting gestures to demonstrate his point, he then told Victor he had killed a man like you would do a goat. Maury soon arrived in the Cordovas' pickup truck. With her were Tommy Stinnett and Marlene, defendant's girlfriend. As the motorcycle was placed in the truck, defendant boasted to the others about the homicide; his tone was loud and mean. The boasting resumed after the group arrived back at the Cordova home. Victor and Maury took defendant into the bedroom and asked him what had happened. In response, defendant removed a sack from his pocket. The sack contained coins, some cash, and a bloody knife. Frightened, Victor took the knife and threw it into a nearby canal. Defendant continued to say and do things that made no sense. He squatted in a corner, staring blankly. When Maury used the phrase Jesus Christ, he told her sharply not to mention that name around him because he was the devil. Victor drove defendant and Marlene to a motel, registered in his own name, and left the couple in a room. Later that evening, Victor encountered defendant, still loaded, at the home of a mutual acquaintance. Victor asked defendant if he realized what he had done and advised defendant to flee to Mexico. Defendant gave Victor a penetrating look and nodded. On cross-examination, Victor admitted that several weeks before the 1986 retrial, he had encountered defendant in the Kern County jail. Defendant asked Victor to lie about the amount of PCP he had consumed on the day of the murder.