Three Ex-Cons Are Convicted of Murder for Oakland Home Invasion Robbery

Three ex-felons were each convicted today of two counts of murder for the shooting deaths of two people during a home invasion robbery in East Oakland last year. After a lengthy trial, jurors only deliberated for a day and a half before reaching their verdicts against 24-year-old Joseph Tabron, 56-year-old Joseph Castro and 50-year-old Joseph Silva for the shooting deaths of Noe Garcia, 28, of Oakland, and 34-year-old Trisha Forde of Union City at a house at 10730 Apricot St., near Blenheim Street, at about 4 a.m. on March 2, 2013.

The three men showed little emotion when the verdicts were announced but 10 bailiffs were present to make sure that there weren’t any problems. In addition to the two murder counts, jurors also convicted Tabron of three special circumstance murder allegations, two for killing Garcia and Forde during a robbery and one for killing Forde during a kidnapping.

Previous: Jury Gets Home Invasion Case That Killed Two

Tabron faces life in prison without the possibility of parole and Silva and Castro also face potential life sentences. Prosecutor Georgia Santos said in her closing argument that the three defendants, plus two other men, went to the house to steal flat-screen televisions and a San Francisco Giants bobblehead and Forde and Garcia were killed because they were witnesses to the home invasion robbery.

Santos said the evidence in the trial indicates that Tabron fatally shot Garcia but it’s unclear who killed Forde. But she said all three defendants should be convicted of murder under the felony-murder rule, which holds that if a killing occurs during the commission or attempted commission of a felony the persons responsible for the felony can be found guilty of murder. Silva gave a statement to Oakland police in September 2013 in which he accepted partial responsibility for the crime and implicated Tabron and Castro, who is Tabron’s uncle. Silva retracted his statement when he testified during the trial for the three defendants.

His attorney, John McDougall, said in his closing argument that he believes Silva cracked under tough questioning by police officers, citing the testimony of a psychologist who examined Silva and found that he’s “an insecure, passive and dependent individual” and “has high levels of compliance and suggestibility.” But Santos told jurors that they should believe Silva’s confession to police because it’s supported by evidence in the case. However, defense attorney William DuBois, who represents Tabron, told jurors in his closing argument that he thinks the killings remain “unsolved” and his theory is that Garcia killed Forde out of jealousy and someone else responded by killing Garcia. DuBois said Tabron, Castro and Silva “are guilty of a number of crimes,” including robbery, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and grand theft, but not murder because he believes there was no connection between the home invasion robbery and the deaths of Garcia and Forde.

The evidence in the case indicates that Forde was killed by bullets fired from an Uzi and that Garcia suffered a wound from an Uzi bullet in his leg but was killed by bullets fired from a semi-automatic handgun. DuBois alleged that Garcia “was there to shoot somebody” and was armed with an Uzi. He said he believes the ballistic evidence indicates that Garcia killed Forde and then accidentally shot himself in the leg, giving another shooter an opportunity to kill him in response. Santos said she believes the two other people who joined the three defendants in staging the home invasion robbery were Tabron’s older brother, 26-year-old Jeffrey Tabron, who will be prosecuted separately at a later date, and a man nicknamed “Taco” who is still at large.

Prosecutors allege that Castro has 12 prior felony convictions, Jeffrey Tabron has three prior convictions and Joseph Tabron has two prior convictions. They also allege that Silva has prior convictions. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Allan Hymer, who presided over the case, is scheduled to sentence Joseph Tabron and Castro on Feb. 27 and Silva on March 6.

By Bay City News

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