SAN DIEGO -- Two members of a violent kidnapping gang killed many of their victims and dissolved some their bodies in acid, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.
In his opening statement in the trial of Jose Olivera Beritan and David Valencia, Deputy District Attorney Mark Amador said the defendants targeted Mexican drug dealers and businessmen living in the U.S. whose families were unlikely to report the crimes. He said the remains of two of the murder victims were dissolved in acid after their May 2007 deaths. What was left of their remains was not discovered until more than two years later at a ranch owned by Valencia, he said.
Defense attorneys were scheduled to make an opening statement later today.
The prosecutor said Olivera Beritan, 38, and Valencia, 41, are part of Los Palillos, or the Toothpicks, a splinter group from the Arellano Felix cartel that for years shipped drugs through Tijuana to San Diego.
The trial is the first of three scheduled for members of Los Palillos, 17 of whom were indicted on various charges involving "numerous murders and kidnappings,'' Amador said. He called the group "a paramilitary-style organization.''
Amador laid out details on four crimes:
- Olivera Beritan is accused in a Jan. 3, 2007, attempted kidnapping at a Bonita apartment complex in which a now-imprisoned drug trafficker was shot but managed to escape;
- Olivera Beritan is also charged with the March 23, 2007, kidnapping of Ivan Lozano, whose body was found in the trunk of a car in Clairemont about two weeks later;
- both defendants are accused of the May 3, 2007, abduction of a drug trafficker named Cesar Uribe and Uribe's associate, Marc Leon, whose remains were found on property where Valencia kept horses near the border; and
- the June 8 kidnapping of a businessman, who was rescued from a house in Chula Vista, leading to the arrests of the defendants.
Lozano, Uribe and Leon were all held at a house on Garber Way in Paradise Hills, he said.
The prosecutor said Uribe's family heard from his kidnappers, who demanded money, and two ransom drops took place. He said Valencia and Uribe were involved in drug trafficking together but a dispute arose over a debt.
The families of Lozano and Leon never heard from them or their kidnappers.
The defendants are charged with murder, kidnapping, attempted kidnapping and robbery counts. Because there are special circumstance allegations of torture and multiple murders, Olivera Beritan and Valencia face life in prison without parole if convicted in a trial expected to last around two months.
Four other alleged member of Los Palillos face the death penalty if convicted.
