GILROY—A San Jose man is behind bars and charged with the killing of Robert Heiser while police continue the hunt for a third suspect in what investigators now say was murder and robbery by a “criminal street gang.”
Rodrigo Bejarano, 22, was already in custody at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on an unrelated case when he was charged with homicide, according to Gilroy police.
In a criminal complaint filed Tuesday by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office, Bejarano and fugitive suspect Gerardo Cisneros are alleged to have robbed Heiser of unspecified electronics, his wallet and keys “by means of force and fear while voluntarily acting in concert with two or more persons.” Investigators are seeking an arrest warrant for Cisneros.
Both men are accused of killing Heiser with “malice and forethought,” according to the filing in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Bejarano and Cisneros also are accused of first-degree robbery and participation in a criminal street gang; both have prior convictions in Santa Clara County for felony robbery, according to court documents.
Gabriela Ortiz, 19, of San Jose was arrested Feb. 20 and is in custody charged with robbery and homicide in the Heiser case. She appeared briefly during a plea hearing in Superior Court in Morgan Hill Tuesday. The hearing was continued to March 17 after her public defender requested more time for discovery.
Meanwhile, police continue to hunt for a forth suspect in the case, Isabella Chaidez, 17, of San Jose. She is seen in surveillance camera footage with Ortiz at a convenience store in East San Jose where the pair allegedly attempted to use Heiser’s credit card just hours after his death. Chaidez is named in a separate criminal complaint filed last week and police have a warrant for her arrest.
“Investigators continue to follow up on leads that will lead them to (Chaidez),” Gilroy Police Department Sgt Pedro Espinoza said.
Chaidez matches the description of a suspected prostitute who goes by the name of “Krissy” and is wanted in connection with a Feb. 7 robbery and assault of a client at his Fremont home, Fremont police said.
The victim in the case initially contacted “Krissy” on a prostitution website and picked her up in San Jose before bringing her to his home, Fremont Police Department spokesperson Geneva Bosques said. After sipping on a drink he believes was drugged, the man passed out, according to Fremont police.
When he awoke, he was tied up and surrounded by an unknown number of men asking where his valuables were located, Bosques said.
“They began to beat him in the head with their fists and he went unconscious. He woke up and they were gone,” she said.
In the Gilroy case, Heiser was found unconscious on the floor of his home where he lived alone on the 1400 block of Bay Tree Drive at around 3 a.m. Feb. 16, according to police. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Heiser suffered from blunt force trauma to his upper torso, Espinoza said, but the coroner has not yet determined a cause of death.
Police urge anyone with information to call the Gilroy Police Department’s anonymous tip line at (408) 846-0330 or (408) 846-0350 and ask for Detective Eric Cryar.
