Castle Rock – Douglas County prosecutors must 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 killing his girlfriend, Maria Franco-Fierros, 49, by dragging her behind his car in north Douglas County in 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 to the murder, despite his written confession to investigators when he was questioned last fall.
Douglas County Circuit Judge Paul King set an Oct. 26 hearing on the results of testing by the state mental hospital on whether Rubi-Nava is mentally retarded. In the same hearing Wednesday, King 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.
Rubi-Nava has been in custody since his 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 blood trail on Surrey Ridge Drive.
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
