SANTA CLARA
– The prosecution in the trial of alleged hit man Gustavo Covian
closed its case Wednesday with its most powerful piece of evidence
– the transcript taken from a Gilroy Police Department video camera
that recorded Covian in the back seat of a police car following his
arrest.
SANTA CLARA – The prosecution in the trial of alleged hit man Gustavo Covian closed its case Wednesday with its most powerful piece of evidence – the transcript taken from a Gilroy Police Department video camera that recorded Covian in the back seat of a police car following his arrest.
“… that they don’t find the gun upstairs Lord, I implore you, that they don’t find it, that they don’t find it, that they don’t find it,” Covian said in the video. “I give up everything so that you set me free. Don’t allow me to go to jail, me and my wife. You can make, with your power, I think, that everything be a mistake …”
Those were some of the prayers and words that the video camera mounted near the rearview mirror in the patrol car captured Covian saying following his arrest at his Hollister home April 28, 2000. A Santa Clara County Superior Court certified interpreter read portions of the video’s transcript to the jury Wednesday because Covian spoke Spanish on the tape.
Covian is the alleged murderer of former Gavilan Restaurant owner Young Kim, who was last reported seen Nov. 13, 1998. Deputy District Attorney Peter Waite claims Covian was hired to kill the former Rancho Hills Drive resident by Kim’s wife Kyung Kim, but a body hasn’t been recovered, and police were unable to locate any substantial amount of forensic evidence at the supposed burial site.
A .357 magnum handgun was found at Covian’s home during his arrest, but forensic tests for blood, hair, fibers and skin were inconclusive.
Covian was on parole for a prior misdemeanor at the time – meaning he could not legally possess a firearm – and that was the reason for his prayers, Covian’s defense attorney Thomas Worthington said Wednesday.
Following about 20 minutes of prayers while alone in the car, Covian was joined by his fellow defendant and then wife, Maria Covian, and further dialogue was recorded. Maria Covian was a waitress at the Gavilan Restaurant and allegedly arranged the contract killing of Young Kim.
“They don’t have any facts,” Gustavo said to Maria.
“Why did they catch/seize us then?” Maria said.
“Because they pointed fingers at us. … There is not enough evidence. Simply someone is jealous of us because we didn’t get our brother-in-law out of jail, and they said they were going to blackmail us, knew about the death,” Gustavo Covian said. “The man from the restaurant and they are checking us. Do you understand? Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”
“You told Octavio (Gustavo’s brother) everything that time …” Maria went on to say in the back of the car, according to the transcript. “Why did you tell them; why did you open your mouth?”
“I didn’t tell anything,” Gustavo Covian said.
Throughout the remainder of the video tape Gustavo and Maria Covian go on to talk about going to Mexico, tried to figure out who called the police on them and planned to get an attorney.
Following the reading of the transcript to the jury, Worthington brought in his own certified Spanish interpreter from Monterey County Superior Court in Salinas to dispute some of the tape’s translation.
In a trial where language has been a constant issue for witnesses – many requiring the use of Spanish and Korean interpreters – Worthington demonstrated how the translation of certain Spanish words could be taken in different contexts. One example he gave was in Maria’s quote “why did they catch us then?” Both interpreters agreed that “seize” could be interchangeable with “catch” in the translation.
Worthington also pointed to the large amount of words that were declared “unintelligible” on the transcript, saying those blanks on the transcript skewed the context of their neighboring words.
The last of the trial’s 22 witnesses testified Wednesday, and both attorneys will make their closing remarks today.
Worthington has claimed since the trial began that Gustavo Covian was set up by Adrian Vizcaino, his brother-in-law and current convict turned state’s witness for the trial.
Vizcaino testified earlier in the trial that 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 where.
If his testimony is found truthful, Vizcaino will be released on parole from his current 11-year sentence at San Benito County jail for armed robbery.
Gustavo Covian, 39; Maria Covian, 28; Gustavo’s brother Ignacio, 31; and Kyung Kim, 46, are charged with involvement in the disappearance and suspected 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 – none of whom can legally testify in the current trial – will go to trial following Gustavo Covian. If convicted of being the hired gun in the twisted saga, Covian could face life in jail without parole.
On Monday, Danny Ray Callahan, a 47-year-old self-proclaimed lifetime criminal and drug user testified that in March of 1999 Ignacio Covian recruited him to the Vibroras Creek area to help dig up and transport a body, although they never did.
Callahan is currently incarcerated in Washington state.
Prior witnesses in the trial have stated that both Kyung and Young Kim had been participating in extramarital affairs for a number of years, and that their marriage arranged in their native Korea was deteriorating and abusive. Kyung Kim waited 16 days to report her husband missing, and when she did detectives say she was reluctant to give information.
Young Kim was last seen entering the garage of his home, according to a cook at the former Gavilan Restaurant at 6120 Monterey Road.
Waite claims that following the murder Gustavo Covian continued to extort Kyung Kim for up to $100,000. Gustavo and Maria Covian purchased a new home and two new cars between 1998 and 1999, but Worthington claims they were paid for by loans from other members of the Covian family.
Korean speaking witnesses who appeared at the trial last week verified loaning Kyung Kim $50,000 between July 1998 and March 1999; Worthington said the loans were for the restaurant, and Kyung Kim’s younger sister acknowledged that Kyung had lent at least $10,000 to her father in Korea in 1998.
The defense has pointed to suicide or an extended trip to Mexico or Korea as to Young Kim’s whereabouts, but his children and other family members said he was not suicidal and would not leave his home without notice. His car, car keys, passport, credit cards, suitcase and clothes all remained after his disappearance.
Police have searched the alleged Hollister grave site of Young Kim in the Vibroras Creek’s dry bed near Churchhill and Fairview roads with cadaver dogs, a helicopter fly-over and earth-moving equipment at least four times since 1999.
The jury is expected to give a verdict Friday or Monday.
