Deliberations start in trial of duo accused of killing woman, framing another

Jury deliberations got underway today in the trial of a Jurupa Valley man and his nephew accused of killing the man's estranged wife, then framing her boyfriend for the murder, causing him to spend nearly two decades in prison.   

Googie Rene Harris Sr., 67, and Joaquin L. Leal, 58, are charged with first-degree murder and special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and committing murder for financial gain in the 1998 slaying of 33-year-old Terry Cheek.

The prosecution and defense completed closing statements Wednesday afternoon, and Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz directed jurors to return to the Riverside Hall of Justice on Thursday to commence weighing evidence in the monthlong trial.

Harris' son, Googie Rene Harris Jr., 45, of Palm Desert pleaded guilty in February 2020 to being an accessory to murder. He's free on bond and testified for the District Attorney's Office. He's set for sentencing on Sept. 26.

Prosecutors are seeking capital punishment for Harris Sr., if he's convicted.

Harris and Leal are each being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.

According to a trial brief filed by the D.A.'s office, Harris Sr. and
Cheek were embroiled in a divorce, and proceedings had dragged on for months due to failed negotiations over disposition of the house they'd purchased together on Lindsey Street in Jurupa Valley.

The defendant and victim had a son together, and Cheek had two young daughters from a prior marriage, while Harris had his adult son.   

After separating from Harris Sr., Cheek became romantically involved with a coworker, Horace Roberts, at Quest Labs in San Juan Capistrano. Roberts resided in Temecula, and the victim spent time with him there but continued to live in the home she and her estranged husband purchased together, sleeping in a separate room.  

Harris Sr. referred to the property as his ``dream home,'' and he didn't want to lose it in the divorce, court papers alleged.   

The defendant began confiding in Leal, remarking that Cheek was ``trying to take everything'' and how he wanted ``her out of the picture,'' the brief stated.

Leal, who had a felony record for sexual assault, was sympathetic, according to the prosecution.

Harris Sr. began scheming, eventually drawing Leal and Googie Harris Jr. into the alleged murder plot, settling on the night of April 14, 1998, to carry it out, prosecutors said.

After the victim said goodbye to her son and daughters to head out to work, she walked into the hallway connecting the garage and house to drive Roberts' pickup, which he had allowed her to borrow when her own car broke down, according to the brief.

As she stepped into the dark space, Leal grabbed her from behind, at which point Harris Sr. rushed in and joined him in strangling Cheek, who was able to scratch and bite the defendant, the brief alleged. Harris Jr. was standing in the driveway, but turned around for ``not wanting to see his stepmother killed,'' according to the brief.   

Harris Jr. drove Roberts' pickup with his dead stepmother next to him southbound on Interstate 15 into Temescal Valley, where he became unsettled and took an exit toward Lake Corona, with Leal following behind in his vehicle, according to the narrative.

The men allegedly dragged the body from the pickup and dumped it near the lake, then left in Leal's car, leaving Roberts' pickup on the shoulder of the freeway. The remains were found three days later, along with the pickup, and sheriff's investigators questioned Harris Sr., who told them ``Terry was driving her own car and was planning to meet Horace to carpool to work that night,'' according to the brief.

Detectives turned their attention to Roberts, theorizing he had gotten into an altercation with Cheek and killed her, despite his repeated denials and alibis. There were two criminal trials that resulted in hung juries. A panel convicted him, wrongfully, of the homicide in 1999. Harris Sr. testified for the prosecution in all three trials.   

The San Diego-based Innocence Project's attorneys took on Roberts' appeals in 2004. The process of re-examining DNA evidence collected from Cheek's body stretched for years. By 2018, there was a successful re-analysis of her fingernail clippings and stains on her jeans, which proved Roberts was not the donor of the DNA.   

The findings concluded there was a 1 in 38 trillion possibility that someone other than Harris Sr. was the contributor of the skin and stain samples.

Roberts was released from prison on Oct. 15, 2018, and charges were immediately filed against Harris Sr. and Leal. Harris Jr. was charged a year later and soon confessed.

Neither he or his father have prior felony convictions.   

Roberts, now 66, received an $11 million settlement from the county in 2021 after suing over his wrongful conviction and imprisonment.