SANTA CLARA
– The 12 jurors deciding if alleged South County hit man Gustavo
Covian spends the rest of his life behind bars or becomes a free
man continue in discussions this morning after being unable to
reach a verdict during their first full day of deliberations
Monday.
SANTA CLARA – The 12 jurors deciding if alleged South County hit man Gustavo Covian spends the rest of his life behind bars or becomes a free man continue in discussions this morning after being unable to reach a verdict during their first full day of deliberations Monday.
Throughout the day Monday the 10 men and two women jurors from throughout Santa Clara County examined evidence in the case and asked questions to attorneys. They also recalled a court certified interpreter to help them understand a piece of videotape evidence recorded in Spanish.
If found guilty of being the hired-gun in the murder of Gilroy restaurant owner Young Kim, Covian could face life in prison without parole.
Kim was last reported seen outside his former Rancho Hills Drive home on Nov. 13, 1998, and the prosecution claims Covian was paid at least $30,000 by Kim’s wife Kyung Kim for the murder, although no body has ever been found.
“It’s hard to say when (the jury) will be finished,” said Deputy District Attorney Peter Waite, who is prosecuting the case. “There is a lot of information and a lot of names.”
Those names include 22 witnesses who took the stand since the trial began on Jan. 28 and countless other associates and family members who name’s the jury tried to keep straight during the trial.
When the jury does reach a decision on the charge of first-degree murder for financial gain, there are three possible results: guilty, not guilty or hung – meaning they could not reach an anonymous decision and a retrial will likely follow.
Gustavo Covian, 39; his now ex-wife and mother to three of his children, Maria Covian, 28; Gustavo Covian’s brother, Ignacio Covian, 31; and Kyung Kim, 46, are charged with involvement in the disappearance and alleged murder of 49-year-old Young Kim, Kyung Kim’s husband of 24 years and father of her two children.
All four defendants are facing first-degree murder charges and have been in custody in county jail since 2001. The other defendants will go to trial following Gustavo Covian.
The major evidence against Covian came from the testimony of inmate turned state’s witness Adrian Vizcaino. Vizcaino is also Covian’s brother-in-law.
During his almost six-hour long testimony during the trial Vizcaino said Gustavo Covian had bragged to him about killing Young Kim and that he was taken by two of Gustavo Covian’s brothers on different occasions to the alleged former grave site of Young Kim near Vibroras Creek in Hollister. But the body has since been moved, Vizcaino claims, though he doesn’t know the new location.
