Testimony from guilty party reveals new details in murder of Coachella Valley couple
The preliminary hearing for four of the six suspects involved in the murder of a Coachella Valley moved into its second day on Tuesday.
Five witnesses took the stand on Tuesday including 3 Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies, 1 person from Cal Fire, and Jesus Ruiz Jr., a person who has already pled guilty in this case.
Ruiz described what he remembered back in 2017. He lived at a house with one of the suspects, Abraham Fregoso, at the time.
Ruiz said he was digging a hole for trash in the backyard when Fregoso told him to make it bigger. Cement was later poured into that hole. Up to a week later, Ruiz said Fregoso and suspect Manuel Rios told him ”there was an accident."
That hole was dug up at a later date- Ruiz described what he discovered.
DA: Other than cement, did you see anything else while you were digging out the hole?
Ruiz: 1 or 2 body parts in the cement
DA: Okay, that’s what I’m getting at. You said that “I saw 1 or 2 body parts”. Can you describe for us what it was that you saw?
Ruiz: I don’t know what… what. Could've been bones. I think it was probably bones. 2 bones in there.
DA: Okay, so you say you saw body parts. You remember seeing bones?
Ruiz: Bones, yeah.
Ruiz also said another suspect, Adilene Ines Castaneda, told him there was a drug deal that had gone bad.
It was unclear if Jonathan Reynoso and Audrey Moran were involved. But Ruiz said Castaneda told him she gave Reynoso CPR at some point and that someone had choked Moran.
DDA: What did Adilene Casteneda tell you about that evening?
Ruiz: That something happened at the house and she ended up giving him CPR.
DDA: Okay, when you say she end up giving.. Who?
Ruiz: Adilene ended up giving Jonathan (Reynoso) CPR. And then when he left the house, I guess it was at Aaron’s (Bernal) house where he passed away.”
3 witnesses took the stand on Monday, bringing the total to 8 witnesses who have testified in the preliminary hearing.
Monday's witnesses include Riverside County Sheriff's deputies, Indio Police, Cal Fire, a former roommate who live in a home with Bernal in 2017 and Ruiz.
The roommate said Bernal and Audrey Moran were seeing each other at the time May of 2017.
During the hearing on Monday, the roommate 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?
Witness: I don’t know the exact date, but I do knew she was at the house the day before she went missing."
The hearing will continue on Wednesday morning.
Most of today's testimony came from the witness who had already pled guilty in this case (cannot be named at this time). Some takeaways from Day 2:
— Samantha Lomibao KESQ (@samanthaKESQ) March 2, 2022
Background:
Jonathan Reynoso and Audrey Moran disappeared in 2017. Three years later, their skeletal remains were identified as them.
The preliminary hearing was delayed on Monday for a few hours 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.
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.
