Man re-enters not guilty plea to 2018 murder of local jiu-jitsu instructor
One of two men suspected in the 2018 fatal shooting of a jiu-jitsu instructor in Cathedral City re-entered a not guilty plea today to murder.
Kipko Griffin, 49, initially pleaded not guilty to the charges July 27, 2023, during his first court appearance in the case. At the end of a preliminary hearing April 9, a Riverside County Superior Court Judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial for Griffin on the murder charge.
He re-entered a not guilty plea to the charge Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
Co-defendant Troy Walter Edmund, 45, faces one felony count each of murder and being a convicted felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm, according to court records. He's set to appear in court Thursday for his preliminary hearing.
Detectives worked numerous leads in the March 28, 2018, murder of Ramon Diaz but it wasn't until the department's detective bureau got a lead in June 2023 that they were able to identify Edmund and Griffin as the suspects, according to Investigative Commander Rick Sanchez of the Cathedral City Police Department.
Griffin was arrested in July 2023 while Edmund was already behind bars on unrelated charges.
"I want to thank the local police for not giving up on this case. So many people have been needing closure on Professor Diaz's murder,'' UFC Hall of Famer Cub Swanson wrote on social media last year. "Ramon Diaz was my original (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) instructor and the reason I started (mixed martial arts)."
Sanchez said officers responded at around 9:45 p.m. on the day of Diaz's death to a report of a gunshot victim in the 31000 block of Whispering Palms Trail. Diaz was found on the scene and succumbed to his injuries as Cathedral City Fire Department personnel were taking him to a hospital.
"Video surveillance from the surrounding area showed the suspect vehicle pulled up to the victim's home, the passenger door opened, and the suspect exited the vehicle and walked towards the victim,'' Sanchez wrote in a statement. "The suspect is later seen running away from the residence towards the awaiting suspect vehicle that was parked at the intersection."
The vehicle then sped away from the scene, according to Sanchez. Detectives then issued numerous search warrants and conducted several interviews that led them to Edmund and Griffin.
The Riverside County Gang Impact Team executed a search warrant at Griffin's residence July 25, when they took him into custody without incident, according to Sanchez.
He was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, where Edmund was already in custody, according to inmate records. They both remain held without bail.
Anyone with information on the 2018 shooting was asked to call Sanchez at 760-202-2488.
