The arrest of a suspect in the murders of two men at a 2005 Halloween party was a relief to one of the victim’s parents, who once had searched bars for the suspect.
But it also raises fears that Rodolfo “Rudy” Gonzales, 28, will win an acquittal just as his alleged accomplice, Martin Herrera, did in 2007 in the fatal shootings of Teddy Guerra and Isaiah Roybal, both 21, on Oct. 30, 2005.
“We’ll be there in the courtroom,” said 70-year-old Manuel Martinez, Roybal’s adoptive father, anticipating Gonzales’ prosecution. “If it starts getting ugly (and Gonzales is acquitted), I might lose my mind.”
His fear is that Gonzales will point the finger at his accomplice and avoid accountability.
A jury acquitted Herrera on May 27, 2007, of two counts of murder with extreme indifference and one count of first-degree assault. The jurors found him guilty of third-degree assault, and he was sentenced to two years in jail.
Herrera also was arrested on federal charges of illegal possession of a firearm and unlawful re-entry of a deported alien and was sentenced to seven years in prison, according to Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Colorado.
Gonzales was arrested Monday after police saw him make an apparent drug deal in Montebello, Calif., according to Redondo Beach police Lt. Paul Wrightsman. Denver authorities will seek to extradite Gonzales from California to Denver on a murder warrant, Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said Wednesday.
On Oct. 30, 2005, Guerra and Roybal, best friends who wrestled together at West High School, were at a Halloween party when two uninvited men were told to leave. The two started shooting, killing Guerra and Roybal and injuring three other people.
Virginia Martinez, Roybal’s adoptive mother, said Herrera claimed at his trial that Gonzales fired the gun.
Virginia Martinez said the same thing could happen when Gonzales goes on trail.
“He’ll come out and say this other kid did it,” Virginia Martinez said.
After the two friends were killed, Manuel Martinez said he and family members on many nights passed out fliers with Gonzales’ picture, and when he received tips, he would go searching for the suspect himself.
“They took away a kid who could have been something and was doing something in his life,” Manuel Martinez said. “You’re angry when it happens, when it shouldn’t happen.”
He said Roybal was taking a break from attending Trinidad State Junior College and was working at United Parcel Service when he was killed.
“We still miss Isaiah,” Manuel Martinez said. “That part will never go away.”
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
