FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Days after a Fresno man was identified as a sex offender, he turned up dead. Now, two people will stand trial for his murder.
Lawrence Ballesteros was stabbed to death in Sept. 2012, just days after a sex offender sweep. An autopsy showed Ballesteros was stabbed 58 times before his body was dumped near Chandler Airport.
Investigators believe the attack stems from the kind of anger you'd expect from a parent who just found out a pedophile had become a family friend.
When U.S. Marshals and local police went door-to-door tracking sex offenders, Lawrence Ballesteros was right where they expected him. The sting apparently blew his cover, though, and made him a target.
"There was a big uproar in this neighborhood," said defense attorney Gerald Schwab. "There were a lot of angry people confronting him about this report of him being a sex offender."
Less than a week later, a group of early morning walkers found him dead on a frontage road a mile from the detached garage where he was living.
Police arrested David Barrera and Patricia Perez for murder. Perez lived in the front house with her partner and their children. Investigators say she and Ballesteros were drinking buddies, and Barrera often joined them. They believe the shock of the revelation drove Barrera and Perez to kill their friend.
"That's exactly what they're saying is this is a case of vigilante justice -- my client killing somebody because he was a sex offender - however, there's no evidence to prove that," said Schwab, who represents Barrera. "There's no murder weapon. There are no eyewitnesses."
There is a Barrera fingerprint in Ballesteros' apartment, though. There's also video of his truck in the area where Ballesteros' body was dumped. Investigators found the victim's blood in that truck. But with no confession, prosecutors may have to dig deeper.
ABC30 legal analyst Tony Capozzi says a history of abuse could connect the suspects to this murder because of the brutality of the attack.
"Clearly it's a crime of emotion," he said. "It appears there's some anger and deep-seated hatred was involved here."
The judge in the case has ruled she won't allow evidence of Barrera's or Perez's personal history of abuse or crime unless they testify in the case. Defense attorneys say they're not likely to open that door.
Opening statements in the trial are expected early next week. ..Source.. by Corin Hoggard
Trial begins for Fresno friends accused of stabbing sex offender 58 times
4-8-2014
The trial for two Fresno drinking buddies who are accused of stabbing a registered sex offender 58 times began Tuesday with their attorneys suggesting there are plenty of other suspects to be considered.
David Barrera and Patricia Ann Perez, both 50, are accused in Fresno County Superior Court of murdering 60-year-old Lawrence Ballesteros on his bed on Sept. 18, 2012 and dumping the body near Chandler Downtown Airport in southwest Fresno.
If convicted, they face life in prison.
Ballesteros was killed a couple of weeks after he was shown on local television in a feature story about Operation Guardian Angel, a multi-agency law enforcement task force that targeted registered sex offenders.
In opening statements of the trial, defense attorneys Gerald Schwab, who is defending Barrera, and Mark Siegel, who is defending Perez, told the jury that no physical evidence such as fingerprints, DNA or a confession ties their clients to the killing.
But there were at least "100,000 suspects in the neighborhood" who likely wanted to kill Ballesteros once they learned he was a convicted sex offender, Schwab said.
Prosecutor Jeff Dupras, however, said a 13-year-old girl saw Barrera and Perez loading Ballesteros' body into Barrera's pickup.
A grainy black and white video from a surveillance camera shows Barrera's truck near where Ballesteros' body was discovered, Dupras said. Another surveillance video shows Barrera's truck in an alley where Ballesteros' bloody mattress and sheets were discarded, he said.
Both sides agreed on some of the facts:
Perez and Barrera liked to drink beer together but they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. Instead, Perez was in a relationship with another woman and lived with her and her two teenaged children in a home on Stanislaus Street less than a mile from Chandler airport.
Perez also was a friend of Ballesteros', who needed a place to live.
In the summer of 2012, Perez told Ballesteros he could rent a detached garage behind her home, Siegel told the jury.
Trouble for Ballesteros began in late August 2012, when Operation Guardian Angel's task force went door to door in southwest Fresno to make sure registered sex offenders were in compliance with the law. The task force brought along a crew from KGPE (Channel 47.1).
At the time, Perez didn't know Ballesteros was a registered sex offender, Dupras said. She got upset when the TV report included a shot of her next to Ballesteros outside the home, Dupras said.
Because Perez's companion didn't want Ballesteros near her 13-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son, Perez told him to find a new place to live. Ballesteros left, but two weeks later he returned to the detached garage.
What happened next is in dispute.
Siegel said that on Sept. 18, 2012, Barrera and Perez spent most of the day drinking at a party. Around 6:30 p.m., Barrera dropped Perez off at her home and left.
But Dupras said the two friends kept drinking at the home and eventually decided to kill Ballesteros inside the detached garage.
Around 10:30 p.m., the 13-year-old living in the home heard barking dogs, looked out her bedroom window and saw Barrera and Perez loading the victim's body into Barrera's truck, Dupras told the jury. The pair then drove off, he said.
Ballesteros' body was found the next morning near Kearney Boulevard and Channing Avenue.
Siegel, however, told the jury that Perez couldn't have killed Ballesteros. Once Barrera took Perez home around 6:30 p.m., she passed out and never left the home, Siegel said.
In addition, Barrera never returned to the home after dropping off Perez, Schwab said. The 13-year-old girl also didn't get a good look at the two people who were loading the victim's body into the truck because it was dark and her bedroom window was 30 to 40 feet away from the detached garage, Schwab said.
The trial is expected to conclude next week. ..Source.. by Pablo Lopez
Sex offender murdered, teen is key witness
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno Army Reserve center was ground zero for a murder investigation involving drinking buddies.
Lawrence Ballesteros was stabbed to death in Sept. 2012, just days after a U.S. Marshals sweep outed him as a registered sex offender.
Ballesteros hid the fact that he was a registered sex offender from his neighbors and landlords in Southwest Fresno. But when a sex offender sweep gave him away, he disappeared for a couple weeks. The day he came back, he turned up dead.
A trail of evidence led police from an Army Reserve center to the alleyway behind a Southwest Fresno shopping center, and then to a home.
"They confronted him and they murdered him right there," prosecutor Jeff Dupras said.
Dupras says David Barrera and Patricia Perez killed Ballesteros. He says evidence proves the murder was a two-person job.
"We know this because he had these marks on his neck," Dupras said. "While one of them was doing this, the other person stabbed him 58 times."
Ballesteros was a convicted rapist who hid his past from many of those around him, including Perez, who rented him a detached garage.
But when U.S. Marshals conducted a sweep to make sure sex offenders were where they were supposed to be, Ballesteros couldn't hide it any more.
With her girlfriend's two teenagers in her home, prosecutors say Perez mistakenly believed he was a pedophile, giving her a motive to kill. Her attorney disagrees.
"The only youngsters that Patricia Perez has that are close to her are her grandchildren and none of them live there," said Mark Siegel.
Surveillance video from the Army Reserve center on the night of the murder shows a pickup truck arriving a few feet from the gate, where the body was found.
Police later found Ballesteros' blood in Barrera's pickup. But his attorney says there's nothing proving Barrera committed murder.
"Maybe he wasn't even involved in the murder but let somebody use his truck," said defense attorney Gerald Schwab. "Or even say for example he was driving the truck, that doesn't put him with a murder weapon in his hand killing anybody."
A teenage girl living in Perez's home could be a key witness in a two-week trial. Prosecutors say she saw Perez and Barrera by his truck the night of the murder just before the time the body was dumped. ..Source.. by Corin Hoggard
New twist in case of murdered Fresno sex offender
4-16-2014:
A new twist Tuesday in the murder trial against two people accused of killing a Fresno man shortly after finding out he was a registered sex offender.
"Mr. Ballesteros was killed by someone who hated him," said defense attorney Mark Siegel. "He was killed by someone who wanted to put him on display."
Someone stabbed 60-year-old Lawrence Ballesteros almost 60 times and then dumped the body on a busy street near an Army Reserve center.
Patricia Perez and Bertha Ortega were landlords to Ballesteros. Perez is the one accused of killing him, but her defense attorney pointed out Ortega is the one who wasn't his friend, the one with a teenage daughter, and because of that, the one with a motive after finding out his secret.
When U.S. Marshals went looking for Lawrence Ballesteros to make sure the registered sex offender was where he was supposed to be, they came to a house belonging to Bertha Ortega. Ortega mistook Ballesteros' sex offender status to mean he was a pedophile. A year and a half later, her girlfriend, Patricia Perez, is on trial for Ballesteros' murder. And Perez's attorney says -- since she had a teenage daughter and Perez didn't -- Ortega is a more likely suspect.
"Bertha Ortega herself had more of a motive - not to kill Mr. Ballesteros - but to want him out of that detached garage," said Siegel.
Ortega's daughter gave police what may be the strongest piece of evidence linking Perez and David Barrera to the murder. The teen said she saw the two suspects in the driveway that night in Sept. 2012, near Barrera's pickup truck. In court, her story changed slightly. She identified Barrera, but stopped short of saying Perez was also in the driveway.
"We all saw her gesture towards Patricia Perez and then she caught herself and stopped and said 'I don't remember who the other person was,'" said prosecutor Jeff Dupras.
About ten minutes after the driveway scene, surveillance video shows a pickup truck pulling up to the spot where the body was discovered. Ballesteros' blood was later found in Barrera's truck. But Barrera's attorney says that doesn't prove Barrera participated in the murder.
"There's not a single, solitary shred of evidence that shows a knife in his hand or a ligature in his hand," said Gerald Schwab.
Closing arguments wrapped up Tuesday afternoon, so the jury will begin deliberations Wednesday morning.
Perez and Barrera face life in prison if they're convicted of murder. ..Source.. by Corin Hoggard
Two convicted of murder in Fresno stabbing of sex offender
4-18-2014 California:
Two friends were found guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the killing of a registered sex offender who was stabbed 58 times and his body dumped near Chandler Downtown Airport in southwest Fresno.
David Barrera and Patricia Ann Perez, both 50, face life in prison when they are sentenced next month in Fresno County Superior Court.
The jury deliberated over three days before convicting them of murdering 60-year-old Lawrence Ballesteros, who was killed Sept. 18, 2012, on his bed inside a detached garage -- a couple of weeks after he was shown on local television in a feature story about Operation Guardian Angel, a multi-agency law enforcement task force that targeted registered sex offenders.
During the trial, attorneys Gerald Schwab, who defended Barrera, and Mark Siegel, who defended Perez, told the jury no physical evidence, such as fingerprints, DNA or a confession, ties their clients to the killing.
Barrera did not testify, but Perez told the jury she had no reason to kill Ballesteros, saying he was her friend and she had offered him a place to live. She also testified she was drunk and passed out in her home when Ballesteros was killed.
A teenager who lived in Perez's home, however, testified she saw Barrera and Perez loading Ballesteros's body into Barrera's pickup truck, the defense lawyers said. The jury also learned a surveillance camera showed Barrera's truck near where Ballesteros' body was discovered. Another surveillance video shows Barrera's truck in an alley where Ballesteros' bloody mattress and sheets were discarded. ..Source.. by Pablo Lopez
Fresno woman sentenced in stabbing death of sex offender
5-16-2014 California:
A Fresno woman was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison Friday for her part in killing a registered sex offender who was stabbed 58 times.
Patricia Ann Perez, 50, was convicted in March along with David Barrera, 50, of Fresno, of first-degree murder for the stabbing of Lawrence Ballesteros in 2012. Ballesteros' body was dumped near Chandler Downtown Airport in southwest Fresno.
During the trial, Perez told jurors she had no reason to kill Ballesteros, saying he was her friend and she had offered him a place to live. She also testified she was drunk and passed out in her home when Ballesteros was killed.
Perez proclaimed her innocence Friday, but also offered her condolences to members of Ballesteros' family.
"I know I will be at peace because I don't have blood on my hands," she said.
Fresno County Superior Court Judge Houry Sanderson said she had limited discretion in sentencing Perez to 25 years to life. Sanderson added a year to the sentence because of a prior prison stint.
The jury deliberated for three days before convicting Perez and Barrera of murdering Ballesteros, 60, on Sept. 18, 2012 on his bed inside a detached garage -- a couple of weeks after he was shown on local television in a feature story about Operation Guardian Angel, a multi-agency law enforcement task force that targeted registered sex offenders. The sex offense against Ballesteros was from 1984.
The jury also learned that surveillance video shows Barrera's truck near where Ballesteros' body was discovered. Another surveillance video shows Barrera's truck in an alley where Ballesteros' bloody mattress and sheets were discarded.
Mark Siegel, Perez's lawyer, said he believes Perez is innocent and was protecting someone.
"I strongly suspect that Ms. Perez has been convicted of a murder she didn't commit," he said in court. "It's very tragic that a man died and it's very tragic that Ms. Perez is on the verge of being sentenced for this."
Cecelia Perez offered her sympathies to the Ballesteros family, but supported her sister's innocence: Patricia Ann Perez had a difficult life growing up, but "I just know that she has a soft heart. She has a really good heart."
Monai Cruz, Ballesteros' niece, said she will never see her "favorite uncle again.
"You get to see you family, your family gets to visit you and hear your voice," Cruz said to Perez.
But she also forgave Perez: "I can't hold a grudge against anybody even if that person does something really bad to me. So, Patricia, I want you to know I forgive you for what you did."
Barrera's sentencing is scheduled for May 28. ..Source.. by Marc Benjamin
Fresno longtime criminal gets 80 years to life in stabbing death
5-28-2014 California:
A career criminal was sentenced Wednesday to 80 years to life in prison for his part in killing a registered sex offender who was stabbed 58 times in southwest Fresno two years ago.
David Barrera, 50, asked the judge in Fresno County Superior Court to give him the same sentence co-defendant Patricia Ann Perez received two weeks ago: 26 years to life in prison for the first-degree murder of Lawrence Ballesteros.
But Judge Houry Sanderson said Perez, 50, had little criminal history while Barrera had lived a life of crime that started in the 1970s and escalated in violence, from drugs to burglaries to robbery to assault causing great bodily injury.
The only time Barrera hadn't been in trouble with the law was when he was in prison, and he escaped from prison once, the judge noted. He also killed Ballesteros within two years of being paroled from prison, Sanderson said.
"You have never attempted or demonstrated the ability to live a law-abiding lifestyle," Sanderson said. "You are a serious danger to society."
A shackled Barrera politely declined to address the court.
Ballesteros, 60, was killed Sept. 18, 2012, on his bed inside a detached garage, a couple of weeks after he was shown on local television in a feature story about Operation Guardian Angel, a multi-agency law enforcement task force that targeted registered sex offenders. The sex offense against Ballesteros was from 1984.
During the trial, the jury learned that surveillance video shows Barrera's truck near where Ballesteros' body was discovered in southwest Fresno near Chandler Airport. Another surveillance video shows Barrera's truck in an alley where Ballesteros' bloody mattress and sheets were discarded.
But attorney Mark Siegel, who defended Perez, and Gerald Schwab, who defended Barrera, told the jury no physical evidence, such as fingerprints, DNA or a confession ties their clients to the killing.
Barrera did not testify, but Perez told the jury she had no reason to kill Ballesteros, saying he was her friend and she had offered him a place to live. She also testified she was drunk and passed out in her home when Ballesteros was killed.
But a teenager who lived in Perez's home testified she saw Barrera and Perez loading Ballesteros' body into Barrera's pickup.
The jury deliberated over three days before convicting them.
"Eighty years is more than appropriate," prosecutor Jeff Dupras said Wednesday after Barrera was sentenced. "It was a brutal crime."
Schwab said Barrera plans to appeal. "He would be the first to admit that he hasn't been an angel," Schwab said. "But there was insufficient evidence to convict him." ..Source.. by Pablo Lopez
He confessed to murder to free another defendant. Would judge agree?
11-17-16:
Saying he wanted to “man up” for a crime he committed four years ago, a Fresno man testified Thursday in graphic detail that he alone stabbed a registered sex offender 58 times and then strangled him inside a detached garage in southwest Fresno.
In 2014, David Barrera and Patricia Ann Perez were found guilty in Fresno Superior Court of first-degree murder in the killing of Lawrence Ballesteros. Because Barrera is a career criminal, he was sentenced to 80 years to life in prison. Perez was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.
During the trial, Perez testified that she had no reason to kill Ballesteros. She said she and the victim were friends and she had offered him a place to live in the detached garage. She also testified she was drunk and passed out in her home when Ballesteros was killed.
Barrera, however, never testified.
On Thursday, he gave his first public account of how and why he killed Ballesteros, in hopes of getting Perez freed from prison.
His plan didn’t work.
Judge W. Kent Hamlin said it’s highly unusual for a someone to confess to a “cold-blooded murder.” And because Barrera’s testimony showed he is a “cold-blooded murderer,” the judge said, his testimony is clearly suspect.
If Barrera was telling the truth, it would be legal grounds for a new trial for Perez, Hamlin said.
In denying Perez’s petition for a new trial, Hamlin agreed with prosecutor Jeff Dupras that Barrera’s confession didn’t match the physical evidence at the crime scene. For example, Barrera said he held a large kitchen knife in his right hand and stabbed Ballesteros on the right side of his back. But most of the stab wounds were on the victim’s left side.
Barrera also testified that he dragged the victim’s body by the ankles to his pickup truck. From the passenger side at the rear of the truck, he shoved the body into the back. But Dupras noted that a piece of the victim’s flesh and his blood were found on the driver’s side of the tailgate.
In addition, Barrera recalled seeing a teenage girl on the front porch of her home, telling her dogs to be quiet. He said the girl saw him and likely the body because he was propping Ballesteros up. But Dupras said testimony in the trial showed that the girl told detectives that she looked out of her bedroom window and saw Perez with Barrera near his pickup around the time of the killing.
But what concerned Hamlin was a letter Barrera had written to the District Attorney’s Office in November 2015. In it, he said he would confess to killing Ballesteros if prosecutors showed leniency toward his grandson who was accused of carjacking. The letter, Hamlin said, “doesn’t bode well for his credibility.”
In the end, Hamlin said Barrera got his confession all wrong. “It’s a lie, not an oops,” Hamlin said, adding that “his description of the murder doesn’t add up and his motive for doing it doesn’t add up.”
Hamlin said he doesn’t know why Barrera lied. “Maybe he felt sorry for Ms. Perez,” the judge said. Barrera also didn’t explain why he didn’t like child molesters since he never testified that he or a relative or friend had been victims of them.
But for three hours, Perez and her supporters in the courtroom held out hope.
The killing
Ballesteros, 60, was killed Sept. 18, 2012, a couple of weeks after he was shown on local television in a feature story about Operation Guardian Angel, a multiagency law enforcement task force that targeted registered sex offenders. The sex offense against Ballesteros was from 1984.
The killing happened at a home on Stanislaus Street near Chandler Downtown Airport, where Perez was living with another woman and her teenage daughter.
On Tuesday, Barrera told Hamlin that Perez was telling the truth.
To testify, Barrera waived his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination over the advice of his lawyer, Gerald Schwab.
On the witness stand, Barrera said he wanted to confess the moment Perez was sentenced to prison, but he was locked up in prison for more than a year in solitary confinement. He said his appellate lawyer also advised him not to confess.
But once he lost his appeal and prosecutors never answered his letter, Barrera sent a letter to Perez’s appellate attorney, Randy Kravis, in March this year, telling him he was the lone killer. “I decided to man up and take care of this because I could not live with this,” he told Hamlin.
Kravis then notified Perez’s trial lawyer, Mark Siegel. Together they fought for a new trial for Perez.
Barrera said he and Perez had been friends since high school and were not romantically involved. He said he was also a longtime friend of Ballesteros.
Barrera said he got upset when he learned from a television report that Ballesteros was a registered sex offender. “I was thinking he was a child molester,” he told the judge. “We all have children and that’s pretty offensive.”
He recalled that Perez had been drinking all day on the day of the killing. After running a few errands, Barrera said, he caught up with Perez at a children’s party and had a few beers with her. Because Perez was drunk, Barrera said, he drove her home and helped her into her house so she could sleep.
Barrera said he continued to drink that night. Alone in his truck, he sat obsessing for hours about Ballesteros being a child molester.
Around 11 p.m., Barrera said, he decided to confront Ballesteros. Angry, he went to his home and without knocking went into the detached garage. He then sat across from Ballesteros, who woke up and sat on the edge of his bed.
Barrera recalled taking a beer, sunflower seeds and a kitchen knife with him. He said his intent was to kill Ballesteros, but if he “showed humility and regret” for being a child molester, “I would let him go.”
“It was up to him,” Barrera told the judge.
Ballesteros, however, declined to answer questions about being a child molester, Barrera said. Ballesteros then took off his shirt as if to fight, he said.
“His attitude pushed me to make that decision to kill him,” he told Hamlin.
As a ruse, Barrera told Ballesteros he was leaving. When he said that, Ballesteros lowered his head. That’s when Barrera said he used his left hand to force Ballesteros’ head down and used his right hand to stab the victim in the back. The victim was flailing his arms and yelling but his screams for help were muffled from his face being forced into his lap, Barrera said.
After stabbing him more than 50 times, Barrera said, Ballesteros was still alive. “I told him if he laid down and died I would not stab him any more,” Barrera testified.
Barrera said he sat in a chair, drank beer and ate sunflower seeds while watching Ballesteros die. When he didn’t, Barrera said, he found an electrical cord and strangled Ballesteros until he died.
Barrera said he strangled the victim because “I felt sorry for him and I wanted to put him out of his misery.”
He then got rid of the body, bloody mattress and bloody blankets, and the murder weapons. “I cleaned up the mess like nothing happened,” he said.
Ballesteros’ body was found the next morning near Kearney Boulevard and Channing Avenue. The pair were arrested about a week later.
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