CV man sentenced for murdering girlfriend, harming others
A 28-year-old Coachella Valley man convicted of fatally stabbing his girlfriend during a frenzied attack possibly stemming from drug use was sentenced today to 33 years & 8 months to life in prison.
Christian Alejandro Pacheco was convicted of killing Elilia Valdez Garcia, 30, of Thermal on March 17, 2017.
In April, a jury found Pacheco guilty of first-degree murder, arson, assault with a deadly weapon, animal cruelty and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony. The next month, a jury determined that he was mentally fit when he perpetrated the killing and committed other offenses.
Early on the morning of March 17, 2017, he went to the victim's doublewide trailer in the area of Avenue 60 and Van Buren Street, telling her to come with him, and the two drove off in her brother's car, according to court papers.
Prosecutors said that later that morning, Pacheco attacked Garcia, using a knife to stab her numerous times in the head and neck.
"The stab wounds to the back of the neck were lethal, approximately six to eight inches deep,'' according to the brief.
The defendant dumped her remains on a dirt road leading into a small private cemetery near Body of Christ Church at 62950 Monroe Street in Thermal. Around noon the same day, Pacheco returned to Garcia's trailer and set it aflame. A neighbor went to see what was happening and encountered Pacheco in the Hyundai with the victim's Chihuahua.
"The defendant told him, `This witch is (expletive) crazy. I tried to kill her, and she wouldn't die. I saw the devil in her face, and she wouldn't die,''' according to the brief.
The man told authorities that as he called the fire department, Garcia sped away. A witness, Duncan Cameron, was not far from Garcia's burning residence, taking pictures of coconut trees, when the defendant pulled alongside him, asking for money.
Cameron became frightened by Pacheco's behavior and jumped into his Mercedes to get away. He told sheriff's detectives Pacheco tailed him, tapping his bumper and causing the witness to lose control. His Mercedes overturned on a dirt embankment along westbound Avenue 60. He suffered minor injuries.
Pacheco went to his grandmother's home in the 51-700 block of Calle Torres Orduno in Coachella, where he walked into the kitchen and took a knife, then returned to the Hyundai, where a neighbor observed him "beating a small dog," court papers said.
He nearly decapitated the Chihuahua and threw the mortally injured animal into nearby bushes.
"The defendant's family came out and called 911," the brief said. "The defendant asked his grandmother to forgive him."
The woman handed him her cell phone, and Pacheco spoke with a 911 dispatcher, who told him to lay on the ground and wait for deputies, which he did. He was taken into custody without incident minutes later and turned over to homicide detectives. They questioned Pacheco at length, and the following day, he led them to where the victim's body had been dumped, according to court papers.
After they found the woman's remains, Pacheco broke down in tears.
He had a prior misdemeanor conviction for driving on a suspended license.
