Arrest No. 2 Made In Gilroy Man's Homicide

Gilroy police arrested a male suspect Tuesday in the homicide last month of a man whose credit card was used by two teen females at a store the same morning he was found dead, a spokesman said.

Police served a warrant for the arrest of Rodrigo Bejarano, 22, a San Jose resident, on suspicion of murder in the Feb. 16 death of 56-year-old Robert Joseph Heiser, police Sgt. Pedro Espinoza said. Bejarano was arrested at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Santa Clara County Main Jail, where he was being held in an unrelated criminal case, Espinoza said.

On Feb. 23, police announced that another suspect, Gabriela Bernice Ortiz, 19, of San Jose, had been arrested in Heiser’s homicide and later identified a second female suspect, 17-year-old Isabella Chaidez, also of San Jose, who is still at large.

At 2:59 a.m. on Feb. 16, Gilroy police went to investigate a complaint from a neighbor about a noise near Heiser’s residence in the 1400 block of Bay Tree Drive near Santa Teresa Boulevard.

The neighbor reported hearing dogs barking in the area of Heiser’s home and after officers entered the residence, they found the victim lying unconscious inside. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Although he had no visible signs of a violent death, police regarded his death as suspicious based on the report of dogs barking before his body was found, Espinoza said.

On Feb. 18, police released surveillance video taken at a convenience store on White Road in East San Jose early in the morning of Feb. 16. Police said the video showed Ortiz and Chaidez walking into the store and then using Heiser’s credit card to purchase some items there.

The results of an autopsy on Heiser’s body has not been cleared for release by Gilroy police, according to the Santa Clara County medical examiner’s office.

Previous coverage:

• Gilroy Man Declared Dead On Bay Tree Drive In Possible Homicide
• UPDATE On Gilroy Man’s ‘Suspicious Death’
• VIDEO: Police Seek Two Women Who Used Credit Card Of Gilroy Man Found Dead
• Woman, 19, Arrested In Connection With Murder of Gilroy Man

--Bay City News

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