Pair found not guilty of murder in trial over Coachella Valley couple killing; Bernal found guilty of accessory to murder
The jury has reached a verdict in the trial of two people suspected in the murder of a Coachella Valley couple, News Channel 3 has confirmed.
Aaron Fernando Bernal, 32, was found not guilty of murder of Audrey Moran. He was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact in the murder of Jonathan Reynoso.
Bernal will be released on Friday due to time served.
"I think since the people's case relied a great deal on one witness has credibility and that's the jury did not find that witness credible with respect to the things that he said about Mr. Bernal,” said David Kenner, Bernal's attorney.
Adilene Ines Castaneda, 31, who found not guilty on all counts, which included murder and accessory to murder.
“I just think that justice has been finally done today. Justice has been served," said Bosky Kathuria, Castaneda's attorney.
After the jury announced their verdict, the statement was read by the prosecution on behalf of the mothers of Audrey Moran and Jonathan Reynoso, urging the judge not to be lenient.
Two other people are accused of killing Reynoso, 28, and Moran, 26.
Manuel Rios and Abraham Fregoso were arrested alongside Bernal and Castaneda in 2020. Rios is charged with two counts of murder. Fregoso is charged with one count of murder and a single count of being an accessory after the fact.
Both men have pleaded not guilty to the murders. Their trial is set to start in January.
The investigation into this case began when Reynoso and Moran vanished on May 10, 2017.
Investigators pieced together Moran's final known movements through cell phone data, tracking her path from her workplace in Palm Desert to Reynoso's apartment, where she had told family she was picking him up following his return from a trip.
Two days later, police discovered Moran's abandoned vehicle along the interstate in Beaumont.
The case against the suspects was strengthened by testimony from Jesus Ruiz Jr., who pleaded guilty along with Eric Rios in February to charges of aiding the suspects' escape from arrest.
During court proceedings, Ruiz Jr. testified to digging a hole at an Indio home in 2017, allegedly intended for the victims' bodies. He further revealed that Fregoso approached him close to a year later to help exhume the bodies to conceal their location.
Crucial testimony from Carlos Mendoza, an undercover agent with the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, revealed the murders allegedly stemmed from a drug deal gone wrong.
According to Mendoza, Fregoso admitted in an undercover interview that after Reynoso was killed, he strangled Moran when she became distraught. The bodies were then dismembered, submerged in acid, and buried at the Indio property.
Click here for complete coverage on this case
News Channel 3 has been following the story from the very beginning in 2017 and will continue to keep you updated throughout the day with any developments in from court in Riverside.
