Preliminary hearing begins in murder of Coachella Valley couple
The preliminary hearing for four of the six suspects involved in the murder of a Coachella Valley is now underway at the Riverside County Superior Court.
Jonathan Reynoso and Audrey Moran disappeared in 2017. Three years later, their skeletal remains were identified as them.
The preliminary hearing was originally scheduled for Monday morning, but was delayed to wait for one of the suspects to be transported.
Four of the defendants are accused in the killings, while two others are accused of being accessories after the fact.
Manuel Rios, 28, of Coachella is charged with two counts of murder. Fregoso, 32, of Indio; Bernal, 28, of Indio; and Castaneda, 28, of Coachella, are charged with one count each of murder and being an accessory to a crime after the fact.
Three witnesses took to the stand on Monday, including 2 Indio Police Officers and a former roommate who live in a home with Bernal in 2017.
The roommate, identified as Marissa Montoya, said Bernal and Audrey Moran were seeing each other in May 2017.
During the hearing on Monday, Montoya recalled the last time she saw Moran.
"DA: Do you recall whether or not Audrey Moran had been over at the house around May 9th of 2017?
Montoya: I don’t know the exact date, but I do knew she was at the house the day before she went missing."
Two other suspects involved have already pled guilty. Just last week, Eric Rios, 32, pleaded guilty to two counts of being an accessory to a crime after the fact.
Last fall, another person charged in the case pled guilty to his role. On Sept. 10, Jesus Ruiz Jr. pleaded guilty to two counts of wilfully and unlawfully having knowledge of the murders of Reynoso and Moran as well as harboring and concealing two of the suspects, Manuel Rios, 28, of Coachella and Abraham Fregoso Jr., 33, of Indio.
Ruiz, 42, of Stockon, was sentenced to two years in prison on Sept. 22, however, he was released due to time served, according to John Hall, public information officer for the Riverside County District Attorney's office.
The couple's disappearance prompted family, loved ones, and the community to work for three years to find answers as to what happened.
