Palm Springs quadruple murder re-trial: key forensic expert testifies
Jurors in the re-trial for quadruple murder suspect Jose Larin Garcia heard Monday from a key forensic expert.
Larin Garcia is accused of murdering four people in Palm Springs in 2019. His first trial ended earlier this year with a deadlocked jury.
Julie Osburn, a Palm Springs Police Department crime scene technician, was on the stand. She collected nearly 130 pieces of evidence from the crashed, green Toyota Corolla where three of the victims were killed.
Osburn said blood spatter covered the interior of the car, including windshields, seats and the floor – even some on the outside too.
She swabbed for several blood samples to be tested and identified.
Osburn also collected four 9mm bullet casings from inside the car, including brands RP, Tulammo and PPU.
She collected possible ridge fingerprints from the windows and other areas and sent them off for comparison, and if possible, identification.
The defense pointed to apparent mistakes that were made including debris from the street around the car being collected by a tow truck driver, not police, and not being booked into evidence. Larin Garcia's attorneys also suggested there were items that could have been tested for DNA but were not.
On Larin Garcia, Osburn said she personally observed injuries consistent with road rash on his lower back.
Osburn processed the Honda Civic belonging to Larin Garcia, and photographed items inside the car which included a brass casing in a plastic baggie found in the truck compartment.
The defense said this was planted but another Palm Springs detective testified police found it there exactly as it was photographed.
Testimony continues Tuesday.
News Channel 3's Jake Ingrassia is tracking the latest developments from inside the courtroom: follow along here.
Good morning- testimony is expected to resume this morning in the re-trial for Jose Larin Garcia, the man accused of killing four people in Palm Springs in 2019. Follow along with my live updates from inside the courtroom in the thread below. @KESQ https://t.co/l1dMPKmUPW
— Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) October 24, 2022
Last week, Kevin Martinez, a friend of Larin Garcia's whom he called "Vladis," said the defendant showed him a gun and threatened to kill someone just days before the murders.
Martinez said Vladis's behavior that night was different from other times they would hang out. He quoted Vladis as saying, "If he didn't get no f**king pu**y, he was gonna kill a ni**a."
BACKGROUND:
Jose Larin Garcia, a Cathedral City man, is accused of killing four people (ages 17-25): Carlos Campos, Jacob Montgomery, Yuliana Garcia and Juan Duarte Raya nearly four years ago.
The four victims were all found shot and killed on the night of February 3rd, 2019.
Three of the victims were found inside a car that crashed at Sunny Dunes and El Placer roads. The fourth victim was discovered in the street on Canon Dr. few blocks away.
When police arrived on scene, they found Larin Garcia hiding under a truck. They say he appeared intoxicated and covered in blood.
Larin Garcia was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center for treatment. Security footage shows him running from the hospital later that night.
Detectives have testified he then went to a friend’s house who he had buy him a one-way bus ticket to Florida using a fake name. Prosecutors say he was preparing to flee – shaving his head and beard to change his appearance. He was arrested waiting at the bus stop.
Larin Garcia is charged with four counts of murder. He also faces a special-circumstance allegation of committing multiple murders, opening him to the death penalty if convicted.
WEEK 4 IN COURT:
A friend of Larin Garcia's told the jury that the defendant showed him a gun and threatened to kill someone just days before the murders.
A PSPD detective testified about evidence she collected from the scene and security video she retrieved of Larin Garcia running out of the hospital.
A girlfriend of one of the victims' spoke about showing police Facebook messages sent the night of the murders regarding the fentanyl drug deal at the heart of these murders.
The man the defense says claimed responsibility for the murders testified he did not kill the four victims in this case.
WEEK 3 IN COURT:
Last week, a family friend who harbored Larin Garcia after he fled the from the hospital testified. The jury also heard from the investigator who arrested him later that night at an Indio bus stop.
Larin Garcia's mother took the stand, revealing he called her the night of the murders and she brought him clothes and a cell phone after he ran from the hospital.
Medical examiners testified the victims were all killed instantly by gunshot wounds to the head.
A friend of the defendant spoke about a key phone call she got from the defendant just after the murders happened.
WEEK 2 IN COURT:
The jury heard from a police investigator and a friend of some of the victims.
A hospital nurse who treated Larin Garcia as a trauma patient the night of the murders testified he ran from the emergency department.
A Palm Springs police officer gave testimony key to the defense argument that another man carried out the shootings.
The jury was brought on-location to the scene of the crimes.
WEEK 1 IN COURT:
During opening statements, prosecutor and Deputy District Attorney Samantha Paixao asked the jury to hold Larin Garcia responsible for the four lives she said he stole.https://youtube.com/embed/qTPiv4vZAoc
Defense attorney John Patrick Dolan argued that another man, John Olvera, was responsible for the murders.
The jury heard from some of the first people on scene after the murders, including neighbors who saw the dead bodies and the police officer who first made contact with the suspect.
