Appeals Court Upholds Life Sentence in North Hollywood Roommate Murder

A state appeals court panel upheld a man’s conviction for murdering his 67-year-old roommate who tried to intervene in an argument at an apartment they and four others shared in North Hollywood.

A three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District rejected the defense’s contention that there were errors in Manuel Garcia’s trial in Van Nuys.

Garcia was convicted last year of first-degree murder and is serving a 26-year-to-life term in state prison for the June 2, 2012, stabbing and beating death of Jorge Hortencio Valladares.

The appellate court panel noted in its 24-page ruling that Garcia was “considerably younger and bigger” than the victim.

“Appellant was 46 years younger than Valladares, outweighed him by 58 pounds and was five inches taller,” according to the ruling.

Garcia -- who had been involved in a dispute with his live-in girlfriend -- attacked Valladares after the older man told him not to hit the woman, according to the ruling.

Garcia “did not kill Valladares by a single fatal act, but by bludgeoning him repeatedly with a pan and stabbing him repeatedly with a knife,” the justices noted, adding that his use of two different weapons to inflict multiple injuries that killed Valladares “manifested deliberation and premeditation.”

City News Service