By Brinda Kalita
RIVERSIDE, CA- Jose Larin-Garcia’s retrial for a quadruple homicide charge from 2019 reconvened Monday in Riverside County Superior Court—it’s the second trial for Larin-Garcia after his first one earlier this year ended in a mistrial.
The first witness on the stand was Sean Dusek, an investigator who authored the search warrants on John Olvera’s social media accounts.
Investigator Dusek revealed his research on the social media accounts of John Olvera, the man the defense believed committed the homicides. From this research, he concluded he did not feel Olvera was not connected to the case in any way beyond the messages that he posted on Facebook and Instagram.
Investigator Dusek also noted Olvera had falsely taken credit for another, unrelated shooting before on his social media accounts, purely for “street cred.”
The next witness called by Deputy District Attorney Samantha Paixao was Palm Springs Police Department Detective Edmund Escalla.
In his testimony, the detective said his investigation of Larin-Garcia’s home after the murders occurred found three loose, live rounds of 9mm ammunition, along with two magazines loaded with more 9mm bullets.
Detective Escala also added that, despite the bullets being different brands, they could all fit in the same gun. Additionally, all of the bullets found in Larin-Garcia’s home were the same bullets found at the crime scene, he said.
However, Detective Escala also shared there was no actual murder weapon found in Larin-Garcia’s home.
The trial will be ongoing throughout the week.
