Turlock man convicted of stabbing neighbor over 100 times
A Turlock man has been convicted of stabbing his neighbor more than 100 times, then burning evidence, according to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.
At the conclusion of a two-week trial in mid-August, the jury found Ricardo Rios guilty of the first-degree murder of Pedro Solis Ruiz and arson.
The crime occurred on the outskirts of Turlock on Nov. 12, 2016, when Rios asked Ruiz for a ride to the store.
Rios told a detective that they had pulled off the road somewhere when he began stabbing Ruiz in the face, according to Deputy District Attorney Kirk Brennan. Rios stabbed Ruiz over 50 times in the face and neck, and dozens more times in the neck, chest, abdomen, and back.
Rios then pushed Ruiz from the driver’s side of the SUV to the passenger side and drove the vehicle to an orchard. He dragged Ruiz’s body into the orchard, then drove the vehicle to a different part of unincorporated Turlock, where he used leaves and papers to ignite a fire inside it, according to a media release.
From there, Rios walked home, took a shower, and hid his bloody clothing in a plastic bag in a closet, which detectives later found.
A Good Samaritan put out the fire with an extinguisher before it destroyed the evidence in the victim’s vehicle. Authorities found on the passenger-side floorboard a large amount of blood and a bloody knife that was tested and determined to have DNA from both Ruiz and Rios on it.
Detectives went to the apartment complex where both Ruiz and Rios lived and learned the two knew each other, according to the press release. They found Ruiz hiding in a closet but he denied knowing anything about Ruiz’s whereabouts.
Ruiz’s body was found in the orchard the following day. Investigators returned to Rios’ apartment, found him hiding in the scaffolding and arrested him.
When confronted by detectives with the mounting evidence against him, Rios eventually admitted he killed Ruiz.
Rios, whose attorney could not be reached for comment, claimed a combination of self-defense and mental health issues. He told investigators he’s a dropout gang member and Ruiz and his roommates were members of a rival gang and that he was afraid of them.
While the prosecution doesn’t need to prove motive, Brennan in his closing arguments offered several other reasons why Rios might have killed Ruiz.
Rios told detectives that if Ruiz had done something inappropriate with his mother he would have killed him, then corrected himself, saying he would beat him up.
Robbery could have been a motive, too, Brennan said, because investigators found Ruiz’s cell phone, $300 cash and his driver’s license in Rios’ bedroom.
Rios pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
After finding Rios guilty of all charges and finding true an enhancement that he personally used a knife, the jury heard arguments in the sanity phase of the trial.
Two court-appointed psychologists who evaluated Rios testified and had opposing views of his sanity at the time of the murder. The jury found Rios was sane when committed the crimes, according to the press release.
In a separate court trial, Judge Carrie Stephens found that Rios had previously been convicted of first-degree residential burglary as a serious felony and a “strike” under California’s “Three Strikes” law.
Rios is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 23 and faces a maximum sentence of 56 years to life in prison.
