Castle Rock — Douglas County prosecutors will have to decide whether to seek the death penalty for Jose Luis Rubi-Nava before test results reveal whether he is mentally retarded.
Rubi-Nava, 37, confessed to murdering his girlfriend, Maria Franco-Fierros, 49, by dragging her behind his car in north Douglas County last September.
His court-appointed defense team has asserted he is mentally retarded, meaning that under state and federal law, he would be ineligible for the death penalty.
Rubi-Nava has entered a not-guilty plea, even though he gave a written confession to investigators when he was questioned last fall.
Douglas County Circuit Judge Paul King today set an Oct. 26 hearing on the results of testing by the state mental hospital on whether Rubi-Nava is mentally retarded. King also told prosecutors they have until Oct. 2 to determine whether to seek the death penalty.
Under Colorado law, District Attorney Carol Chambers has 60 days from last week’s arraignment to determine whether to seek the death penalty.
Prosecutors and public defenders in the case have refused to comment outside of court, and records in the case remain sealed.
Once King reviews the findings from the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo on Oct. 26, he will set a hearing for testimony on whether Rubi-Nava is mentally retarded, he said today.
King told public defender Tamara Brady in court today that Rubi-Nava could exercise his right not to incriminate himself in refusing to cooperate with mental-hospital examiners but that doing so could affect his ability to prove mental retardation.
A two-week trial is set to begin Jan. 8, with jury selection beginning Jan. 3.
Rubi-Nava has been in custody since his initial arrest. He confessed to waiting four hours for his live-in girlfriend to get home from work, beating her and, in a roadside argument, putting a noose around her neck and the bumper of his car and driving off.
Her mutilated body was found at the end of a 1.3-mile bloody trail on Surrey Ridge Drive. A photo found near the body showed Rubi-Nava and his wife in Mexico, the mother of his children. In his confession, Rubi-Nava told investigators he had kept the picture in his car.
Former co-workers at a Castle Rock fast-food restaurant recognized Rubi-Nava when the picture was circulated in the media after the body was found.
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
