SAN MARTIN
– It took a jury about three hours to conclude that Gilroyan
Jesse Gill was guilty of murdering 26-year-old Salvadoran immigrant
Wilfredo Coreas Fuentes.
SAN MARTIN – It took a jury about three hours to conclude that Gilroyan Jesse Gill was guilty of murdering 26-year-old Salvadoran immigrant Wilfredo Coreas Fuentes.
Jurors Tuesday agreed with prosecutor Richard Titus that it was Gill who stabbed Fuentes more than 20 times on March 6, 2003. Gilroy police found Fuentes’ body on the kitchen floor of his second-floor apartment at 7190 Eigleberry St., where he rented a room from Gill’s mother.
Gill, 23, will now spend between 26 years and the rest of his life in prison, the penalty the state Penal Code sets for first-degree murder, which includes an added year for using a knife in the crime. Superior Court Judge Kenneth Shapero is scheduled to sentence him Aug. 16 in San Martin.
Gill denied killing Fuentes, but his younger brother and the brother’s friend – then aged 14 and 13, respectively – told police detective Dan Zen the day after the murder that they saw Gill commit the act.
On the witness stand, however, both boys said they couldn’t remember what they saw that day. Gill’s family is very close, and his mother and several other family members also were reluctant witnesses, according to Titus.
“Anybody would be extremely reluctant to testify against his own brother,” Titus said. “I feel for the kid. I feel for the defendant’s mother. They were both in a terrible position because to tell the truth would mean sending their son or brother to jail for a long time.”
The jury heard Gill’s brother’s statement to police on audiotape and found it credible, juror George Crowe of Morgan Hill said Tuesday after the trial.
“His credibility is doubtful because of his background, but … (his statement to police) rang totally true,” Crowe told Titus and defense lawyer Chris Mattison after the verdict was read.
“You probably wouldn’t have had a case if he hadn’t said anything,” Crowe added, to Titus.
“He just needed to get it off his chest,” Titus said of the young man’s statement to police. “It was like a dam busting.”
Mattison argued that Gill was more believable than his younger brother. She was gracious in defeat but did not stay to comment afterward.
“I think you did a damn fine job with what you had to work with,” Titus told Mattison on their way out of the courtroom.
Titus and Mattison, who works for the county Alternate Defender’s Office, wrapped up their closing arguments at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The jury returned with the verdict at about 4:30.
“It was the right verdict, I believe,” said Gilroy police detective Zen, the lead investigator in the case. “I’m sure that Wilfredo Fuentes’ family is going to feel a little bit better now.
“It’s good that justice was served, and it’s bad that a young guy will lose the better part of his life sitting behind bars.”
Fuentes came to Gilroy from El Salvador six years before his death. He was enrolled in English classes and worked in construction and masonry. His goals were to save enough money to buy his mother a house in El Salvador and then move back there, his sister-in-law said shortly after the murder. He did manage to buy the house, she said, but he died before he got home.
Fuentes’ relatives in Gilroy have moved and could not be reached for comment.
Peter Crowley covers public safety for The Dispatch. You can reach him at pc******@gi************.com or 847-7109.
