HEBER CITY — Earlier testimony in Duchesne County rancher John R. Pinder's murder trial painted his ranch hand, Filomeno Valenchia-Ruiz, as an angry and violent man.
Fellow ranch hand David Brunyer testified he saw Valenchia-Ruiz pistol whip another ranch hand, saw him beat his wife and even told police once that Valenchia-Ruiz was "itching to kill someone."
While testifying this week in 4th District Court, however, Valenchia-Ruiz has denied being violent or beating or threatening anyone. He told jurors that he was simply with Pinder on the night of Oct. 25, 1998, when Pinder shot June Flood, 59, and Rex K. Tanner, 48, and then blew up their bodies with explosives on a remote section of the Pinder Ranch, about 15 miles southwest of Duchesne.
Attorneys for Pinder, who is standing trial on two counts of murder, capital offenses, claim it was Valenchia-Ruiz who killed Tanner and Flood and not Pinder. Valenchia-Ruiz, 36, pleaded guilty last year to two counts of murder for his role in the killings and is serving two life terms in the Utah State Prison.
While being cross examined Thursday by defense attorney Ron Yengich, Valenchia-Ruiz said statements that he beat his wife and hit a fellow ranch hand with a gun or pointed a gun at a fellow worker are "not true." He said he sometimes became angry, but was not violent and did not threaten people.
He told Yengich that he has never killed anyone.
"It is my contention that you did kill these two people," Yengich said.
"That is not true," Valenchia-Ruiz responded. "I only accompanied the person who killed two people."
Following that statement, Yengich grilled Valenchia-Ruiz about his plea agreement with prosecutors and asked him why he pleaded guilty to killing two people if he did not kill them. Valenchia-Ruiz again responded that he only "accompanied" Pinder when he killed Flood and Tanner.
In a sharp exchange between Yengich and Valenchia-Ruiz, the defense attorney spent several minutes asking the ranch hand to show him where in the plea agreement it said he only "accompanied" Pinder. Yengich, almost testifying himself to the jury in the way he worded his questions, reminded Valenchia-Ruiz that the plea agreement says that he "knowingly and intentionally" was responsible for the death of Tanner. Valenchia-Ruiz's continued response was that he only "accompanied" Pinder.
Yengich then questioned Valenchia-Ruiz about a possible motive for killing Flood and Tanner, asking him if he owed them drug money or if they owed him drug money. Valenchia-Ruiz denied doing drugs with Flood and Tanner and denied owing them drug money or being owed drug money. He said he had no ax to grind with either one and was friends with Tanner.
Prosecutors allege that Pinder killed Flood and Tanner because he believed they stole documents from him that were vital to the future of his ranch. The only testimony from Valenchia-Ruiz supporting that motive was when he said he overheard Pinder telling his girlfriend, after she called him a "dummy" while they were searching for body parts, that "this is how much I love this ranch."
Cross examination of Valenchia-Ruiz was scheduled to continue today , and Yengich was expected to question the ranch hand more about violent incidents in his past. Yengich's line of questioning is indicative that he will likely call future witnesses that will contradict Valenchia-Ruiz's testimony that he is not violent or threatening.
The trial, being held in Heber City because of extensive publicity in Duchesne County, is scheduled to last a couple more weeks. On Thursday, one juror was dismissed for an undisclosed reason, leaving only one alternate juror remaining.
If convicted, Pinder faces a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors decided earlier this year not to seek the death penalty.
E-MAIL: jimr@desnews.com