Prosecutors and the defense rested their cases on Monday afternoon in the 2017 kidnapping and murder trial of 32-year-old Edinburg resident Jose Angel Martinez.
The defendant, 37-year-old Gabino Salinas, is accused of beating, kidnapping and dragging Martinez with a white Jeep Grand Cherokee before slitting his throat.
Salinas is charged with capital murder and possession of marijuana.
He has pleaded not guilty.
On Monday afternoon, state District Judge Rose Guerra-Reyna dropped two of the initial charges for aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping due to impossible dates on the indictments, according to court documents.
The fifth day concluded with testimony by lead investigator Javier Vargas and an eye witness who was at Martinez’s home moments before Salinas and three others allegedly arrived to hurt Martinez.
Luis Miguel Garza, who was identified as “Flaco” during Ricardo Moreno’s testimony on the first day of trial, was a regular customer of Martinez and had driven to his home to ask if he could finance Garza another gram of cocaine, Garza said.
Garza told the jury that when Martinez denied him, Garza drove to a friend’s house minutes away to borrow cash and returned to Martinez’s only to find a vehicle he didn’t recognize in the driveway.
He said he parked across the street to see what was happening but was approached by a man he didn’t recognize and Salinas, who had a pistol in his right hand, and they demanded he leave.
Garza testified that Salinas recognized him before he could leave in his white Chevrolet Tahoe and asked him to step out of the vehicle and to help him with Martinez.
Once on the driveway, Garza said he saw Martinez lying on the ground face up, naked and drenched in blood.
“I don’t know if he was alive but his eyes were open,” Garza said in Spanish.
Garza said he escaped by claiming a pair of headlights coming down the road belonged to a sheriff and said he had to go.
He then told the jury that Salinas threatened him, telling him that he better return or they would seek him out and kill him.
When police searched for Garza after the incident, he fully cooperated.
Garza said he identified Salinas in a photo lineup at the police station.
During investigator Vargas’ testimony, the jury was shown a recording of the initial interview Vargas conducted with Salinas at the police station. In the video, Salinas said he didn’t have any “beef” with Martinez and noted he was the one who took him to the hospital when his leg was shot earlier that year.
Salinas also said in the video that he knew where the person who shot him lived and that if he wanted revenge, he knew where to go.
Co-defendants Benjamin Chavez Sanchez, 25, Sandy Lutz, 32, and Hector Ruben Guerra, 48, are also facing charges of capital murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated kidnapping.
They have pleaded not guilty.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday morning followed by jury deliberations.
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