Defendant in Modesto murder, arson case to get plea deal

Prosecutors have agreed to a plea deal with a woman accused of starting a fire at a west Modesto home to conceal a murder.

Nicole Marie Pappas has testified that she started the fire May 4, 2011, at the home where Guadalupe Mario Tubera’s body was found. Authorities say Clinton Curtis Wilson shot Tubera over stolen marijuana and a laptop computer. Pappas and Wilson are charged with murder and arson causing great bodily injury in Tubera’s death.

Pappas has agreed to cooperate with law enforcement officials and testify truthfully in Wilson’s upcoming trial in exchange for a conviction on charges of arson of a structure and being an accessory in Tubera’s death, according to Deputy District Attorney Sam Getrich.

Once she is done providing testimony, Pappas will enter a plea to the charges and be sentenced to six years in custody, said Getrich, who is prosecuting the murder case. Prosecutors then will drop the more serious charges against Pappas.

The defendant has already accrued enough time and credit for good behavior while in custody to fulfill her proposed sentence, so she was released from jail last week.

Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Scott Steffen on Friday ordered Pappas released on her own recognizance. Pappas had been in custody at the county jail since her arrest Dec. 13, 2012.

The co-defendants were prosecuted separately as attorneys negotiated the plea deal for Pappas. She testified in a May preliminary hearing for Wilson, who has been ordered to stand trial March 7.

The fire started sometime after 1 p.m. at the home in the 1700 block of John Street, three blocks south of Robertson Road. The house was vacant and being remodeled, and Wilson watched the property with the owner’s permission.

Wilson told investigators Tubera admitted committing the theft and returned some of the stolen property, according to a filed arrest affidavit for Pappas. Wilson said Tubera showed up at the west Modesto home uninvited.

Tubera chased Wilson around the home with an electric chain saw before he shot Tubera, according to the affidavit. A fire investigator has testified that an electric chain saw was found near Tubera’s body.

Pappas has said in court that she was living in Lodi at the time and would frequently come to Modesto to hang out with friends. She said she was addicted to methamphetamine then and sometimes used the drug with Wilson. She testified that she used meth a lot, smoking or injecting more than a gram per day. She had used the drug three consecutive days leading up to Tubera’s death.

In May, Pappas testified that she volunteered to help her friend, Wilson. He tried to start a fire but was afraid the fire never started, according to Pappas’ testimony. She said she offered to check on the home to help her friend, but she now knows there’s no excuse for her actions.

Holding a brown paper grocery bag, she walked up to the house by herself and saw no flames or smoke coming from the home. She used her shirt sleeve to cover her hand as she opened the door. She has testified that she didn’t want investigators to find her fingerprints on the doorknob.

She entered the home, with one foot inside and the other outside the door, and spotted a pile of construction debris. Pappas has testified she didn’t see Tubera’s body. She used a lighter to set the bag on fire before tossing it on the debris pile. She said she then left the burning home.

County forensic pathologist Sung-Ook Baik testified in the preliminary hearing that Tubera was found with two gunshot wounds. He also said the autopsy showed Tubera inhaled some smoke before he died. A toxicology indicated Tubera’s body had a high concentration of methamphetamine.

This story was originally published December 14, 2015 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Defendant in Modesto murder, arson case to get plea deal."