police having some success solving area murders

Local police agencies having some success solving area murders
Lori Consalvo, Staff Writer
Created: 01/23/2010 06:07:16 AM PST


Nine years ago, a well-known gang member stabbed a man to death inside a Pizza Hut near G and Euclid Avenues in Ontario.
Leo "Bumpy" Cervantes, a member of the local street gang Ontario Varrio Sur, OVS, is charged with stabbing to death Juan Chaidez, 26, of Ontario after two women they were with got into a fight.

Detectives have a warrant charging Cervantes with murder but he has not yet been arrested.

For a homicide case to be considered solved, it must go completely through the judicial process or the suspect would have to be dead, Ontario police Detective Sgt. Keith Volm said.

From 2005 to 2007, the San Bernardino County's agencies cleared 56 percent of their homicides. Some police departments solved fewer, despite the amount of resources funneled into homicide bureaus.

The national average of solved homicides has steadily dropped over the decades, from as high as 91 percent in 1963 to 61 percent in 2007.

Experts said the lower rate of success is mostly due to a change in the nature of the crime.

Nowadays, more homicides are committed by strangers and stem from gang- and drug-related issues.

A number of homicides are tied to gangs, throwing up roadblocks for detectives who struggle to get witnesses to talk to them. Residents are either mistrusting of police or intimidated and unwilling to risk their own safety by snitching on gangs.

"Although retaliation against witnesses is rare, they are still afraid. To them (murder) is someone else's problem ... they are just thankful it didn't happen to a member of their family," Volm said.
Unfortunately, he said, many cases sit in limbo waiting for a witness to call with a piece of information that could break the case.

And without witness cooperation, homicides are nearly impossible to solve.

"They can't solve it, everybody refused to cooperate with them," Bertha Garcia said about the police department trying to solve her brother's murder.

Kristopher Erik Gonzalez, 21, was killed June 6, 2008 in El Monte. Detectives said he was shot in the right shoulder after he left a friend's house.

"Police said he was crossing the street and a car went by and shouted `Hey fool,"' said Garcia, 42, of Rancho Cucamonga. "He turned around and they shot at him.

"The bullet went in through his right lung, hit an aorta and went out through the left lung. He died before he hit the floor."

Garcia said she started doing an investigation of her own. Since the shooting, she has checked autopsy reports and asked neighbors if they saw anything.

"Nobody's willing to talk," Garcia said.

Cases that involve drugs or a handgun are harder to solve, according a "Clearing Up Homicide Clearance Rates" study done by the University of Maryland in 2000.

The study singles out the kinds of cases that are more likely to be closed, and many of them are enacted by the majority of local agencies.

Detectives always make sure to attend the postmortem examination so they can learn potentially important tidbits, such as what the victim last ate or whether there is skin beneath their fingernails.

Patrol officers are specifically trained in crime scene preservation, being taught to protect evidence and immediately identify possible witnesses.

At least three detectives should be assigned to each case, according to the study.

Take-home vehicles are issued to detectives so they can respond to a scene at any time of the day or night. They are also allowed overtime to continue pursuing leads on a recent slaying.

The study claims that the best success comes if detectives arrive within a half hour, but most cops say it takes about an hour to get on scene and they don't believe that has impacted their clearance rates.

"These are simple examples of departmental policies that can reflect how important departments are judging homicides to be," said study author Charles Wellford, a criminology professor at Maryland.

Fontana police say they recruit the best of the best for their robbery-homicide division to ensure a decent clearance rate. From 2005 to 2007, the city cleared half of its homicides.

Granted, with only four detectives they have fewer resources than some neighboring departments. But since a new homicide team was formed two years ago, they've seen marked improvement.

They solved all of their homicides last year and six of seven this year.

"When we get a homicide, (the detectives) jump on it and they stay on it and they don't give up," Fontana police Lt. Mark Weissmann said. "With guys like that, even if you have limited resources, you're still going to be able to catch people."

Resources aren't as limited at the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department - which has four rotating homicide teams that are each comprised of a sergeant and three to four detectives - and they've enjoyed great success at solving homicides.

The department, which provides contracted services for 14 cities, has consistently kept its clearance rate above the county and national average.

They cleared 63 percent of their homicides from 2005 to 2007, second only to the Colton Police Department. Contract cities such as Highland, Rancho Cucamonga and Victorville have solved the most homicides, with clearance rates over 60 percent.

Lt. Frank Gonzales, who oversees the homicide bureau, attributes a large part of their success to the dedication and tenacity of the detectives.

"Our detectives are thorough, they're tenacious and they're committed because it's a huge responsibility," Gonzales said. "One of the big requirements that assist in our cases is being able to communicate, whether it's with a drug dealer or someone with an education and professional background. We need to persuade them to tell the truth."

It sometimes takes more than detectives to find answers and figure out whodunnit. Oftentimes, the answer lies in the quality of the evidence.

Crime laboratories are an integral part of solving crimes, analyzing ballistics, fingerprints and other evidence for a clue to who the killer is.

"Unfortunately, too many people believe the show `CSI' writes the books on murder investigation. The truth is the show has more to do with what investigators wish they could do and little to do with reality," Volm said.

It's unknown how big of a role DNA and modern day technology has helped clear homicides.

"Some of our greatest successes have occurred with just good old fashioned police work," Volm said. "Detectives and patrol officers determined to work a particular angle, piece of evidence, statement or rumor."

Agnes Gibboney is the leader of the Inland Empire chapter of the Parents of Murdered Children, a support group for families and friends of people who were killed in a violent nature.

She said homicide by itself has a devastating effect on a family, but an unsolved investigation is even worse.

"It's a never-ending episode for them," Gibboney said about an open investigation. "Torment that this person is still walking the street."

A mother is left wondering if she is at the market with the person who killed her son. A friend questions whether their companion's killer sleeps at night.

"I wonder if they think about what they've done," said Gibboney, whose 29-year-old son was shot to death in 2002 while talking to a friend.

When a homicide is solved, the people impacted by the loss can breathe a little easier.

"At least you know the person who took your loved one is paying for what they've done," Gibboney said. "Your loved one will never come back but at least you have the knowledge that justice has prevailed."

Staff writer Stacia Glenn contributed to this report.