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Thread: Jose Valenzuela Sentenced to LWOP in 2015 AZ Murders of Michael Careccia and Tina Careccia

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    Jose Valenzuela Sentenced to LWOP in 2015 AZ Murders of Michael Careccia and Tina Careccia

    Pinal County seeking death penalty in Maricopa murder case

    FLORENCE, Ariz. (AP) — Pinal County's top prosecutor has filed notice that he'll seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing a Maricopa couple last year and burying their bodies.

    County Attorney Lando Voyles cites multiple aggravating factors in the case against Jose Ignacio Valenzuela.

    He's facing first-degree murder charges in the deaths of 44-year-old Michael Careccia and his 42-year-old wife, Tina. The couple was reported missing on June 22.

    Investigators interviewed Valenzuela and say statements he made led them to search his property.

    Authorities unearthed a 6-foot-deep grave containing the couple's bodies and also reported finding a gun believed to be the murder weapon.

    County sheriff's officials say Valenzuela admitted to taking methamphetamine before the killings.

    A call to Valenzuela's public defender wasn't immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.

    http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/ari...78080008-story

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    Attorney critical of statements by Babeu

    FLORENCE — Last week, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu made some bold statements regarding alleged murderer Jose Valenzuela, and Valenzuela’s court-appointed attorney wasn’t pleased.

    Babeu spoke at a press conference Jan. 20 in Florence called by Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles, who announced the state would seek the death penalty against Valenzuela.

    Babeu had plenty to say about Valenzuela, who has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Michael and Tina Careccia, a Maricopa couple who went missing in June. Their bodies were found by the Sheriff’s Office buried in Valenzuela’s backyard on July 2, and each was shot in the head.

    “I have no doubt the overwhelming evidence that we have, the premeditation of this murder and the subsequent burying of these two individuals on his property and the concealing of that crime, (means) he will face justice and he will go away for a very long time, as he should,” the Republican sheriff said.

    Pinal County Public Defender James Mannato, representing Valenzuela, said he has an obligation to respond to any comments made about his client through the media. He took exception to the sheriff speaking with great certainty about Valenzuela’s guilt.

    “I would like to remind people Jose Valenzuela has pleaded not guilty in this case,” he said.

    Mannato said Valenzuela intends to “vigorously deny” the deaths of the Careccias were caused “intentionally and with premeditation.”

    As in most death-penalty cases, Mannato said a psychologist has been appointed by the judge to perform an evaluation of Valenzuela to determine if he is competent to stand trial. Valenzuela will also be administered an IQ test.

    Mannato said there is reasonable doubt regarding what the state will have to prove against his client. He mentioned another person who was present at the scene of the crime.

    “Mr. Valenzuela’s roommate was there when it happened,” Mannato said. “And I believe he was involved in this, but there have been no charges against him.”

    Valenzuela has told his attorney the murders happened during a fight and a “struggle for the weapon,” but Mannato said the reasons for the fight and ensuing struggle aren’t clear now.

    The next hearing in Valenzuela’s case is set for 3 p.m. on March 28 in front of Pinal County Superior Court Judge Kevin White.

    This isn’t the first time Babeu has made public comments about a defendant’s guilt before a case went to trial. In May 2014, Babeu called Tyler Kost, who was arrested and charged with numerous sex crimes, “a serious and serial sexual offender and rapist.”

    Babeu also openly criticized a judge in the Kost case, Larry Wharton, for setting a bond of $10,000, which the sheriff considered far too low. Babeu said Wharton owed “the community an apology.”

    http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa...3941142aa.html

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    Still no trial date for suspect in killing of Maricopa couple

    By KATIE CAMPBELL
    The Casa Grande Dispatch

    FLORENCE — Jose Valenzuela, the suspected killer of a Maricopa couple in June 2015, appeared in court Monday afternoon.

    The prosecution asked Judge Kevin White to set a January trial date but Pinal County Public Defender James Mannato said that was an attempt to “hustle the trial” and that doing so would be “totally against the interest of justice.”

    “We’re really just beginning the effort of securing the type of information we’d be expected to have,” Mannato told the court.

    He said that is due in part to a witness who is an undocumented immigrant and whose location has not been disclosed to the defense.

    White chose not to set a trial date, but he said he will set one at the next hearing on July 29.

    According to an Arizona State University study submitted in 2001 to the Arizona Capital Case Commission, the time from indictment to trial for capital murder cases in the state ranged from about one month to as much as five years with a median time of about 10 months. This data was determined using documents from 230 Arizona death sentence cases between 1974 and July 1, 2000. During that time period, Pinal County accounted for 3.4 percent of Arizona’s total population and 3.5 percent of the state’s total death penalty cases.

    Valenzuela, 36, faces first-degree murder charges for the deaths of Michael and Tina Careccia. The Careccias’ bodies were found in Valenzuela’s backyard on July 2, 2015, the day after the suspect confessed to the murders. The Pinal County Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty in this case, citing aggravating factors in the deaths, including drug use; Valenzuela was high on methamphetamine when he committed the murders, and he told investigators he had used meth with the Careccias for two years prior.

    http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa...1fd89dfa5.html

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    May 1, 2018

    Man accused of killing Maricopa couple may get trial in 2019

    FLORENCE, AZ (AP) - It could be sometime next year for the long-delayed trial of a man accused of killing a Maricopa couple in 2015 and burying their bodies in his backyard.

    Jose Valenzuela was scheduled to stand trial in January, but that was vacated to allow attorneys more time to prepare.

    The Casa Grande Dispatch reports Valenzuela's new attorney wants the trial pushed back to August 2019.

    Prosecutors want the trial to take place in January or February of next year.

    Valenzuela is facing first-degree murder charges in the deaths of 44-year-old Michael Careccia and 42-year-old Tina Careccia.

    The airline pilot and his accountant wife were reported missing in June 2015.

    Their bodies were later discovered after authorities unearthed a 6-foot-deep grave on Valenzuela's property in Maricopa, about 35 miles south of Phoenix.

    http://www.azfamily.com/story/380816...-trial-in-2019

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    June 25, 2018

    Court sets trial date in 2015 double-murder case

    By Mason Callejas
    inmaricopa.com

    The trial date for a Maricopa double-murder case, which has been hanging in limbo for more than three years was set Monday.

    The trial for Jose Ignacio Valenzuela, 40, the alleged killer of Michael and Tina Carreccia, is set to begin April 24, 2019.

    Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

    The case, which was initially filed in 2015, has seen numerous delays as a result of changes to both defense and prosecution teams.

    Recently, lead defense attorney James Mannato, who had been working the case since its initial filing, decided to retire.

    A new defense attorney, Bobbi Faldutto, was brought in to replace Mannato.

    Falduto immediately requested more time to get familiar with the case, asking for a trial date no sooner than September 2019.

    Special prosecutor Gary Husk, who himself was brought in the fold late, contested the defense’s request, calling it “completely unreasonable.”

    Husk, a prosecutor from Navajo County, was assigned to the case after attorney Kent Volkmer was elected as the Pinal County attorney in 2016 and was forced to recuse himself due to previous ties to the case.

    Presiding Judge Kevin White is also set to begin a new judicial assignment toward the end of the year. However, he said, given he had been involved in the case for so long it is likely he will see the case through trial.

    At Monday’s hearing, Falduto suggested the defense would need six to eight weeks to make arguments. Husk, on the other hand, believes the prosecution can make its case in as few as four weeks.

    Valenzuela, who was not present for the hearing, stands accused of shooting and then burying the Carrecias next to his home in Thunderbird Farms the night of June 21, 2015, Father’s Day.

    A status hearing for the trial was set for Sept. 17 at 1:30 p.m. at the Pinal County Court House in Florence.

    http://www.inmaricopa.com/court-sets...e-murder-case/

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    Arizona Man Pleads Guilty to Shooting, Killing Couple

    An Arizona man has pleaded guilty to killing a couple and burying their bodies on his property.

    By Associated Press

    FLORENCE, ARIZ. (AP) — An Arizona man has pleaded guilty to killing a couple and burying their bodies on his property.

    The Casa Grande Dispatch reports 42-year-old Jose Valenzuela entered the plea Monday to two counts of murder in the deaths of Michael and Tina Careccia.

    Valenzuela told the court that he shot Michael Careccia following a struggle in June 2015. He then restrained Tina Careccia and shot her in the head.

    Their bodies were found on Valenzuela's Maricopa property 11 days later.

    Valenzuela is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 13. He could face a life sentence without parole.

    Maricopa is about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Phoenix.

    https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...killing-couple

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    Arizona man gets life sentence for killing, burying couple

    By David Schwartz
    The Chronicle Herald

    PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona man was sentenced on Monday to life in prison for killing a couple and burying them in his backyard in a 6-foot-deep grave he dug with a borrowed backhoe, his lawyer said.

    Jose Valenzuela, 42, was spared the death penalty under a plea deal with prosecutors in the 2015 murders of Tina and Michael Careccia, each killed by a single shot to the head during an altercation at the shooter’s home.

    Valenzuela, who admitted to taking methamphetamine at the time, pleaded guilty in July to first-degree murder in Tina Careccia’s death and second-degree murder in Michael Careccia’s killing, documents showed.

    Pinal County Superior Court Judge Christopher O’Neil gave Valenzuela a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the first-degree charge and 25 years for the second-degree murder, the maximum allowed under state law.

    Valenzuela attorney Bobbi Falduto told Reuters her client was remorseful for his actions, blaming the murders of his friends on his deep problems with substance abuse.

    “This is certainly a tragedy for everyone involved,” Falduto said. “Drugs and alcohol can ruin a person’s life in a matter of minutes – that’s what happened here.”

    Special prosecutor Gary Husk said he was pleased with the sentence.

    "I do believe that justice was served,” he said in a telephone interview. “It will ensure the defendant is never released from prison.”

    The crime shocked local residents and brought national attention to Maricopa, a desert community about 30 miles (48 km) south of Phoenix.

    Authorities said Michael Careccia, 44, an airline pilot, and Tina Careccia, 42, an accountant, had been married for about a year when they vanished that June, triggering a widespread search.

    Valenzuela was taken into custody at his residence after admitting to the crimes during his fourth police interview, according to court papers. He had the .22-caliber Magnum murder weapon with him.

    Valenzuela said he killed the couple and then cleaned his home to remove any trace of blood, wrapped the bodies in a blanket and tarp and buried them with a friend’s backhoe, documents showed.

    The badly decomposed bodies were discovered buried a few feet from his back door after the couple had been missing for 11 days.

    (Reporting by David Schwartz; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Peter Cooney)

    https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/ne...couple-342941/
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