A more than two-week-long first-degree attempted murder trial went to the jury Monday, with the defense attorney warning jurors the state has no solid evidence in the case.
While a deputy prosecutor said Monday that Jose Gasteazoro-Paniagua “had the motive, means and ability” to shoot his former best friend, a defense attorney dismissed the allegations as entirely speculation.
The only shred of evidence against the Vancouver man on trial for first-degree attempted murder, defense attorney Charles Buckley said, is a jailhouse snitch who stands to gain a generous plea bargain in exchange for his potentially damning testimony. The informant, Garold Jacobsen, is being jailed in connection to the Dec. 13 slaying of a Vancouver man.
“(Jacobsen) is looking at a life sentence. And he says he’ll do anything to get out,” Buckley said before imploring the jury to not find any of his testimony credible.
Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu said the evidence points to Gasteazoro-Paniagua, 33, citing such examples as the defendant’s rift with shooting victim Jose Muro, as well as having a gun that closely matched the weapon used in the shooting.
Muro, who survived being shot five times Dec. 30 at the Bi-Lo Market in Hazel Dell, had no enemies, Vu added. “In this trial, there has been zero evidence anyone else tried to shoot him,” he said. “He was in no disputes other than with the defendant.”
After Vu and Buckley gave nearly three hours of closing arguments Monday afternoon in Clark County Superior Court, Judge Rich Melnick dismissed the jury. They will return at 9 a.m. today to begin deliberations.
Changing story
The case has been difficult to pin down, Vu admitted to jurors, because Muro had changed his account of the shooting several times. While hospitalized, he told investigators “they would be arresting the right guy if they arrested Gasteazoro-Paniagua,” but later told the jury he didn’t see the shooter.
Regardless, Vu said, the defendant had the motive: He wanted to kill Muro over a dispute involving Gasteazoro-Paniagua’s affair with the girlfriend of Muro’s younger brother. On Dec. 12, Gasteazoro-Paniagua took a picture on his cell phone holding a Springfield Armory XD .45 caliber pistol — the same type as the weapon used in the shooting. The day of the shooting, the father of Gasteazoro-Paniagua’s girlfriend saw him carrying a similar gun.
A few days after the shooting, Gasteazoro-Paniagua fled to Yakima. He didn’t check on Muro’s condition or ask family how he was doing, which Vu asserted as suspicious.
“This was his best friend for more than a decade, so why doesn’t he call Jose’s family?” Vu said.
In his closing argument, Buckley picked apart the prosecution’s case, pointing out all the evidence not available. There are no eyewitnesses, no DNA evidence or fingerprints and no cell phone records that show Gasteazoro-Paniagua was in the area at the time of the shooting.
“The crux of the state’s case is what the victim’s family believes happened,” Buckley said.
Before his attorney spoke on his behalf, Gasteazoro-Paniagua took the stand to give an alibi. He said he was eating dinner at a restaurant in Portland with his girlfriend the night of the shooting and only heard about it later that night from his girlfriend.
The girlfriend, Melissa Ibanez, couldn’t corroborate — or refute — this testimony because she refused to testify and is being held in the Clark County Jail on charges of contempt of court.
When grilled by the prosecution about why he fled to Yakima and why he never checked on Muro, Gasteazoro-Paniagua appeared unflappable and simply sniffed.
