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Thread: Miguel Velazquez Sentenced to LWOP in 2009 KY Triple Slaying

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Miguel Velazquez Sentenced to LWOP in 2009 KY Triple Slaying

    Death sought in triple slaying


    GLASGOW — Prosecutors in Barren County will seek the death penalty against one of two men charged in a 2009 slaying of three men whose identities remain a mystery.

    The Barren County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office filed a notice of aggravators May 28 against Miguel Angel Velazquez, 20, of Cave City.

    Velazquez has been charged with three counts of murder and one count each of first-degree robbery and tampering with physical evidence.

    His co-defendant, Marcos Omar Bautista, 19, of Cave City, is charged with two counts of complicity to commit murder and one count each of first-degree robbery, tampering with physical evidence and possession of marijuana.

    The men appeared Monday in Barren Circuit Court, where Judge Phil Patton set a trial date of Feb. 15 for both men.

    Velazquez is being represented by Joanne Lynch and Eric Clark of the Department of Public Advocacy, while Bautista is represented by public defenders Vince Yustas and Shanda West-Stiles.

    Lynch said Monday that the notice filed by prosecutors against Velazquez seeks the death penalty because he is implicated in multiple deaths and the allegation that one of the murders occurred during the commission of another violent act, robbery.

    Velazquez and Bautista are charged in connection with the discovery of three bodies on Nov. 22 by hunters in a thicket a few miles outside Cave City in the 9100 block of Happy Valley Road.

    The victims are identified in the indictments against both men as John Doe No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3, and authorities say the victims all worked at a Happy Valley Road farmhouse with Velazquez and Bautista.

    According to prior testimony given in the case by Detective Mike May of the Kentucky State Police, Velazquez shot the first victim twice near the site where the bodies were discovered.

    The second victim was allegedly shot by Velazquez in a stairwell inside the farmhouse, then beaten by Velazquez with a baseball bat and kicked by Bautista, while the third man was allegedly strangled with a dog collar and beaten with a bat by Velazquez in one of the bedrooms in the farmhouse.

    The victims may have been dead for up to a month when their bodies were discovered, May testified.

    KSP detectives were able to get a confession from Velazquez, who allegedly provided to law enforcement the location of the weapons used in the killings and implicated Bautista in each incident.

    Prosecutors have not sought the death penalty against Bautista, but he has charges pending after allegedly attempting to escape from Barren County Correction Center.

    Jail officials allege that Bautista and two other inmates were caught May 2 attempting to escape through a window.

    According to Barren County Jailer Matt Mutter, Bautista, Antonio Macedo and Jose Lagunes were involved in the escape attempt.

    “They had started chipping away at a window and had actually knocked a small portion of glass out,” Mutter said.

    Mutter said the group told authorities they had tried to escape because they knew that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had placed detainers against them in connection with the felony charges each inmate faces, and they wanted to avoid deportation.

    Bautista is charged with second-degree escape and second-degree criminal mischief, both misdemeanors.

    That case is pending in Barren District Court, where Bautista is being represented by West-Stiles.

    The escape case is scheduled to go to trial Nov. 4, according to court records.

    http://www.bgdailynews.com/articles/2010/06/15/news/news3.txt

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    No plea for two in triple slaying
    Case against Barren County men to go to trial in February

    No plea agreement is pending in the case of two Barren County men implicated in a 2009 triple homicide case, which appears to be on track for a trial early next year.

    Miguel Angel Velazquez, 21, and Marcos Omar Bautista, 19, both of Cave City, appeared Tuesday in Barren Circuit Court for a pretrial conference.

    Velazquez has been charged with three counts of murder and one count each of first-degree robbery and tampering with physical evidence, while Bautista is charged with two counts of complicity to commit murder and one count each of first-degree robbery, tampering with physical evidence and possession of marijuana.

    Tuesday’s hearing featured the disclosure by Barren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Karen Davis that negotiations with Bautista’s defense team of Greg Berry and Shanda West-Stiles of the Department of Public Advocacy have not resulted in a plea agreement.

    Davis’ comment came in response to a motion filed by Vince Yustas that sought disclosure in open court concerning any plea agreements or offers of leniency to Bautista in exchange for his testimony against Velazquez. Berry has replaced Yustas on the case.

    “(Yustas, West-Stiles) and myself met several months ago, but at this point in time there’s been no meeting of the minds,” Davis said.

    Velazquez and Bautista were arrested Nov. 22 after hunters discovered the bodies of three men in a thicket a few miles outside Cave City in the 9100 block of Happy Valley Road.

    Investigators allege that Velazquez caused the deaths of each man - the first by shooting him near the thicket, the second by shooting and then beating him in a stairwell of the farmhouse where they lived and the third by strangling him with a dog collar and beating him with a baseball bat in a bedroom in the farmhouse.

    Davis is seeking the death penalty for Velazquez.

    Bautista is alleged to have been at the scene for the second and third slayings and to have taken a small amount of money from the second victim.

    The three victims have not been identified with complete certainty and are listed in court records as John Doe No. 1, John Doe No. 2 and John Doe No. 3.

    The rest of Tuesday’s hearing revolved around discussion among attorneys and investigators regarding evidence recently given to the defense.

    Davis said she had sent a considerable amount of evidence, including documents, CDs and videos, to public defender Joanne Lynch, who along with Eric Clark is representing Velazquez.

    Lynch said Tuesday she had little time to review much of what she had received, and several pending motions she had made in the case would have to be brought back up for discussion at a later hearing.

    Barren County Coroner Mike Swift and Chief Billy Minton of the Cave City Police Department were also on hand for the hearing, each of them agreeing to provide Davis with information about which of their employees might have responded to the crime scene after the bodies were found.

    Barren Circuit Judge Phil Patton scheduled a pretrial conference for Dec. 22. The case is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 15.

    Bautista has been charged in a separate case with second-degree escape and second-degree criminal mischief following an alleged attempt to break out of Barren County Correction Center on May 2.

    Authorities say that Bautista and two other men were involved in the attempt, which allegedly entailed chipping away at and knocking out part of a window at the jail.

    That case is pending in Barren District Court.

    http://bgdailynews.com/articles/2010...news/news3.txt

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Triple homicide trial in Barren County gets delay

    Trials involving two men accused in a 2009 triple homicide in Barren County will be delayed following a request by defense attorneys to review evidence.

    Miguel Angel Velazquez and Marcos Omar Bautista had been scheduled for trial Feb. 15.

    A Dec. 22 pretrial conference in Barren Circuit Court was marked by a request by Velazquez’s attorney, Joanne Lynch of the Department of Public Advocacy, to continue the trial to allow for further review of several items of discovery evidence, including DNA evidence collected during the investigation.

    Barren Circuit Judge Phil Patton filed an order Monday granting the motion and scheduling a hearing for May 11 to determine the status of trial preparation and set a new trial date if one has not already been established by then.

    Velazquez, 21, is charged with three counts of murder and one count each of first-degree robbery and tampering with physical evidence, while Bautista, 19, faces charges of two counts of complicity to commit murder and one count each of first-degree robbery, tampering with physical evidence and possession of marijuana.

    Barren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Karen Davis is seeking the death penalty for Velazquez. Public defender Greg Berry represents Bautista.

    The pair were arrested Nov. 22, 2009, after hunters discovered the bodies of three unidentified Hispanic men in a thicket a few miles outside Cave City in the 9100 block of Happy Valley Road.

    Authorities allege that Velazquez caused the deaths of each man - the first by shooting him near the thicket, the second by shooting and then beating him in a stairwell of the Cave City farmhouse where they lived and the third by strangling him with a dog collar and beating him with a baseball bat in a bedroom in the farmhouse.

    Bautista was allegedly present for the second and third slayings and is accused of taking a small amount of money from the second victim, as well as moving the bodies of those victims to where they were later discovered.

    According to testimony at prior court hearing, the victims may have been dead for as long as a month when their bodies were discovered.

    Both men are being held without bond on the charges in Barren County Correction Center.

    http://bgdailynews.com/articles/2010...news/news3.txt

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    Man takes plea deal in triple homicide

    GLASGOW — Faced with the death penalty, a Barren County man accused of three murders accepted a plea agreement Friday that will keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.

    Miguel Angel Velazquez, 21, pleaded guilty in Barren Circuit Court to three counts of murder and one count each of first-degree robbery and tampering with physical evidence.

    He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 29, when it is anticipated that Barren Circuit Judge Phil Patton will hand down a sentence of life with no possibility of parole, based on the agreement Velazquez reached with authorities.

    After Friday’s hearing, Barren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Karen Davis said Velazquez made it known last week that he was willing to accept the offer from prosecutors that would spare his life.

    Davis had sought the death penalty for Velazquez based on there being multiple intentionally slain victims and the fact that one of the victims was killed during the commission of a robbery.

    Davis said the agreement had the effect of keeping the public safe and avoiding the expense of a trial.

    “As we all know, Kentucky is not quick to enforce the death penalty through execution,” said Davis, noting that a guilty verdict and death sentence from a jury would have been subject to the appeals process. “It would have meant years of appeals for everyone involved.”

    Velazquez admitted to killing three people who lived and worked with him at a farmhouse near Cave City between September and November 2009.

    The bodies of the three victims were found Nov. 22, 2009, by hunters in a thicket near the farmhouse in the 9100 block of Happy Valley Road.

    Authorities could not positively identify the victims. Court documents refer to the victims as John Doe No. 1, John Doe No. 2 and John Doe No. 3 and alternately as Juan “Yogi” Dominquez, Jonathan and Antonio.

    Standing with his court-appointed attorneys, Joanne Lynch and Eric Clark, Velazquez spoke softly while answering Patton’s questions.

    Velazquez said he knew nothing about the victims other than the information contained in the indictment against him.

    According to prior testimony from Detective Mike May of the Kentucky State Police, forensic analysis determined the victims had been dead for about a month.

    Velazquez killed John Doe No. 1 by shooting him in the back of the head outside the farmhouse near where the bodies would be discovered.

    Velazquez shot the man again after he spun around from the first shot.

    John Doe No. 2 was slain in a stairwell inside the farmhouse when Velazquez shot him and later bludgeoned him in the head with a baseball bat.

    In prior testimony, May said a small amount of money was taken from the second victim, leading to the robbery charge.

    John Doe No. 3 was determined to have died from asphyxiation due to strangulation and from blunt-force head injuries.

    May had testified that Velazquez confessed to choking his third victim with a dog collar in a bedroom in the farmhouse and also beating him with a bat.

    Velazquez admitted his involvement in the killings to police and showed where he had hidden the handgun and bat used to commit the crimes, May said.

    A second suspect, Marcos Bautista, earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of facilitation to commit murder and one count each of tampering with physical evidence and possession of marijuana in connection with the case. He is serving a 15-year sentence.

    Lynch said after the hearing that she believed Velazquez was “relieved” that the court appearances were nearly over and that he understood that the “stakes were very high” with death as a possible punishment.

    “I believe he is a thoughtful guy in terms of thinking about what a trial would mean to him, his family and the other people involved,” Lynch said.

    http://bgdailynews.com/articles/2011...news/news3.txt

  5. #5
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    Murderer who killed more than 2 people shouldn´t get deals.... No outrage like it happened after another sentencing last week... ;-)

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael View Post
    Murderer who killed more than 2 people shouldn´t get deals.... No outrage like it happened after another sentencing last week... ;-)
    Velazquez admits guilt, is sentenced to life without parole. At least those nameless victims have justice!

  7. #7
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    Ahm... the other person had been found innocent...

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    She was not found innocent, she was found not guilty!

  9. #9
    Senior Member Frequent Poster stixfix69's Avatar
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    Really disturbing to see sentences being handed down that are not consistent....Triple Murder and no DP? So many have been executed for less.....

  10. #10
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    Yep, but a person who wasn´t found guilty is innocent, isn´t Heidi? I think this is how it works. ;-)

    Anyway - I don´t think the scale fits if multiple-murders gets deals and (possible) murder of "just" one person should get the DP because the crime got some media attention. The victims of Mr. Velazquez had family and future too.

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