98911, People v. Baez

I reacted in a truly hostile manner and retrieved a small revolver,small caliber revolver from my waistband and shot Juan Estrada acouple of times.” Defendant could not remember how many times hehad shot Estrada, but he said that Estrada began to scream. Defendanttold him to “shut up and be quiet.” When defendant “felt that the gunwas no longer useful,” defendant took one of his swords down fromthe china cabinet in his apartment. Defendant explained, “I was in afit of rage and I was, I was paranoid that the gun was making toomuch noise and I had chose [sic] to kill Mr. Estrada.” When askedwhy he had decided to kill Estrada, defendant replied, “After I hadshot him, I figured I was gonna die if I allowed him to live anywaybecause I was aware of his squad *** and I did not want him to sendthem after me.”Defendant stated that when he grabbed the sword, he intended to“[t]ake the life from Mr. Estrada,” and he began “hacking andstabbing” Estrada “numerous times.” “So many times,” defendantclaimed, “that I can’t even count.” While defendant was “choppingaway at Juan Estrada,” Estrada asked defendant why he was doing it.Defendant told Estrada it was “because he was trying to turn somemembers of our organization against me.” According to defendant,Estrada was still standing when defendant began striking him with thesword, but he eventually fell to his knees, and defendant kicked himdown onto the floor. When defendant believed Estrada was dead, hestopped stabbing him and began to wipe up Estrada’s blood withsome towels. Defendant told investigators that Estrada looked “gory,”with “many slashes” to his head and hands and “stab wounds to hisbody.” When asked why he had slashes on his hands, defendantexplained that Estrada had tried to defend himself from the swordwith his hands.Once defendant had wiped up the blood around Estrada’s body,he made himself “look presentable.” He then went downstairs so thathe could “coerce the female into coming into the apartment,” becausehe was afraid that “she would be a witness to the last known place”of Estrada. He told Mena that Estrada “was gonna be awhile, wouldshe like to come up,” and she agreed. After defendant allowed Menato use his bathroom, he asked her if she wanted a drink. Defendantexplained that he “cunningly closed the door to keep her fromobserving Mr. Estrada’s death.” She accepted his offer of a drink, and-4-