Man who killed older brother during brawl sentenced
A Sage man who gunned down his older brother during a brawl and stashed the body where it still has not been found was sentenced today to 15 years to life in state prison.
A Murrieta jury in October convicted Edgar Mancia of second-degree murder for the June 2019 slaying of 29-year-old Daniel "Danny" Mancia.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer imposed the sentence required by law during a hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
"The defendant's conduct created the situation,'' Deputy District Attorney Josh DeGonia told jurors during his closing statement. "His conduct led to the death of Daniel Mancia."
DeGonia pointed to the frequent battles between the brothers as confirmation of their underlying animosities, fueled by excessive alcohol consumption.
On the night of June 16, 2019, another altercation erupted inside the Mancia family home in the 40000 block of San Ignacio Road.
"It spilled into the hallway, then into the living room," the prosecutor said.
The intensity of the clash sent Edgar Mancia's girlfriend fleeing from the residence for her own for safety, according to the prosecution.
DeGonia recalled how the brothers were using everything they could get their hands on to strike each other, including a towel rack torn from a bathroom wall.
The prosecutor said that Edgar Mancia, now 30, likely used a .308- caliber rifle to end the fight and snuff out his brother's life.
Defense attorney Michael Scafiddi told jurors that they were being asked to convict his client of murder "based on purely circumstantial evidence."
"No one is 100% sure what happened to Daniel," Scafiddi said.
He emphasized the size difference between the siblings -- Daniel Mancia at 6 feet, 2 inches and 230 pounds, and the defendant at 5 feet 11, inches and 180 pounds -- as an important element regarding who likely had the upper hand during the fight.
"Daniel breaks my client's face," the attorney said, adding that "whatever act was committed" by Edgar Mancia to protect himself was probably justified.
The bottom line, according to the attorney, is that there was no DNA evidence, "no smoking gun" and no witnesses, leaving open any number of possibilities.
According to DeGonia's trial brief, in an interview with detectives within a couple of days of his brother's disappearance, "Edgar claimed he remembered Daniel was on top of him, and at some point, Daniel choked him. Edgar said he ... may have obtained a kitchen utensil and stabbed Daniel."
The .308-caliber rifle was located hidden in bushes at the rear of the property.
"Some of the nearby residents reported hearing the sound of a gunshot that Sunday night," according to the brief.
