GUILTY CA - Gianni, 24, & Sal Belvedere, 22, Ilona Flint, 22, San Diego, 24 Dec 2013 - #3

New Posts

My guess is that it's expected that Mercado will change his plea to guilty in exchange for LWOP. His trial was due to be starting spring of this year and this was most likely his last opportunity to plead guilty before his death penalty trial began.
 
Man charged in Christmas Eve triple homicide pleads guilty to murder
More than three years after two young people were fatally shot outside a Mission Valley mall on Christmas Eve, and a third victim was found later in the trunk of a car in Riverside, the man charged in those killings has pleaded guilty to all three murders.

Carlo Mercado, 31, admitted to the charges Thursday morning in San Diego Superior Court in a deal that allows him to avoid the possibility of the death penalty. Judge Frederick Linc is expected to sentence to three terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Click to expand...
 
Hi all and Happy New Year!

Yes he plead guilty this morning. I found out by a news agency who contacted the Justice FB page who is requesting a intro and statement from the family.

"Carlo Mercado, 31, admitted to the charges Thursday morning in San Diego Superior Court in a deal that allows him to avoid the possibility of the death penalty. Judge Frederic Link sentenced him to three terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole."

I assume there will not be a trial now but I certainly pray that the motive comes out! Thanks all for keeping this thread alive! :tyou:

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/sd-me-mercado-plea-20170111-story.html
 
Still...the motive. ? ?.
Its a possibility he was attracted to one of the three victims, either male or female. Wasn't one of the male siblings found with his underwear lowered? I'm baffled like the rest of you.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
 
SDHELPS said:
Hi all and Happy New Year!

Yes he plead guilty this morning. I found out by a news agency who contacted the Justice FB page who is requesting a intro and statement from the family.

"Carlo Mercado, 31, admitted to the charges Thursday morning in San Diego Superior Court in a deal that allows him to avoid the possibility of the death penalty. Judge Frederic Link sentenced him to three terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole."

I assume there will not be a trial now but I certainly pray that the motive comes out! Thanks all for keeping this thread alive! :tyou:

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/sd-me-mercado-plea-20170111-story.html
Click to expand...

This story and tragedy started as a sad state of our affairs in a free society. Although there has been a "confession" so to speak I for one do no accept it as truth. It just doesn't add up to me, as presented. But I suppose some Justice is better than none at all. The death penalty is not what it is cracked up to be these days and those on death row are coddled more than other inmates and privy to more appeals. I say put I'm in a place where depression is real.

JMO
 
Be sure to READ THIS.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/34247884/manpleads-guilty-to-murder-in-christmas-eve-triple-homicide

Deputy District Attorney Brian Erickson said Mercado - who arrived at the mall on his motorcycle - wanted to steal Gianni Belvedere's car and argued with the victim at about 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2013, before shooting him as he talked on the phone with his cousin outside Macy's.

About 90 minutes later, Salvatore Belvedere and Flint - who were in the parking lot looking for Gianni - saw Mercado in Gianni's car and were shot as Flint tried to call for help.

After shooting Gianni, Mercado drove to Mira Mesa to fill the stolen car with gas before returning to the mall to retrieve his motorcycle, the prosecutor said.

"They didn't do anything," Erickson said of the victims. "This is Mr. Mercado doing this on his own. They were literally in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Click to expand...

and then...

After police had cleared the crime scene, Mercado rented a U-Haul truck with a trailer and drove back to the mall, where he loaded his motorcycle onto the trailer.

The motorcycle ended up falling off the back of the truck, and Mercado filed a claim online saying he had been in an accident, Erickson said.
Click to expand...
 
I don't get it. Gianni's car wasn't particularly worth stealing. Why kill him and then two more people to steal that car? Senseless, so senseless.
 
Erickson said the timeline of the killings likely unfolded this way: On Dec. 23, 2013, Mercado was riding his motorcycle near Westfield Mission Valley mall when his motorcycle broke down... :shakehead:
Click to expand...


http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...riple-Killings-Belvedere-Flint-410557635.html
Video included


San Diego Judge Frederic Link sealed Mercado’s fate Thursday with three consecutive sentences of life without parole – one for each murder victim – telling Mercado, “Sir, you will never get out of prison.”
Click to expand...

(BTW, I believe that Macy's is one of the ones being closed down this year.)
 
There's been so much speculation here for such a long time concerning the motive and details. Now we find out how much of a selfish monster Mercado was and is. He's cold, and shudder, not quite human.

Some GRAPHIC DETAILS here that answer some of the questions we had
.
After the killings, Erickson said Mercado put fake license plates on Gianni’s car and parked the vehicle near his home and work in Mira Mesa. Gianni’s body was left in the trunk of the car for three weeks. Mercado bought Febreze air freshener at the Target store where he worked in an attempt to cover up the stench of the body. At one point, he tried to sell the stolen vehicle. :eek:

Three weeks later, he drove the car to Riverside, California, and abandoned it in the parking lot of a shopping center located more than 100 miles away from San Diego.
Click to expand...

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...riple-Killings-Belvedere-Flint-410557635.html
 
Curious Me said:
I don't get it. Gianni's car wasn't particularly worth stealing. Why kill him and then two more people to steal that car? Senseless, so senseless.
Click to expand...

Not only that - he went back to the mall in Gianni's car, with Gianni in the trunk, to retrieve his motorcycle? How? Put it on the roof of the car? Not to be sarcastic but this makes zero sense to me and I don't buy this explanation.
 
Vedder said:
Not only that - he went back to the mall in Gianni's car, with Gianni in the trunk, to retrieve his motorcycle? How? Put it on the roof of the car? Not to be sarcastic but this makes zero sense to me and I don't buy this explanation.
Click to expand...

http://www.cbs8.com/story/34247884/manpleads-guilty-to-murder-in-christmas-eve-triple-homicide

I'm trying to imagine CM doing all this alone. He pulled it off -- even suffering from his mental illness.

I think CM drove Gianni's car to CM's neighborhood, put gas in it, but I don't understand why and how he drove it back to the mall. Apparently, that's when he shot Ilona and Sal.

Then, eventually, he did rent a U-Haul truck to go get his motorcycle from the mall area. I guess he drove Gianni's car to the U-Haul place and left it parked there, then returned to the mall in the truck. Notice the motorcycle ended up falling off the back of the truck! He left quite a trail, and there was plenty of evidence, but somehow he went undetected. It's still hard to believe only one person did all this alone.

Now that I've heard all the evidence against him, I think there was a major likelihood he might have gotten the Death Penalty.


After shooting Gianni, Mercado drove to Mira Mesa to fill the stolen car with gas before returning to the mall to retrieve his motorcycle, the prosecutor said.
Click to expand...

About 90 minutes later, Salvatore Belvedere and Flint - who were in the parking lot looking for Gianni - saw Mercado in Gianni's car and were shot as Flint tried to call for help.

After shooting Gianni, Mercado drove to Mira Mesa to fill the stolen car with gas before returning to the mall to retrieve his motorcycle, the prosecutor said.
Click to expand...


After police had cleared the crime scene, Mercado rented a U-Haul truck with a trailer and drove back to the mall, where he loaded his motorcycle onto the trailer.

The motorcycle ended up falling off the back of the truck, and Mercado filed a claim online saying he had been in an accident, Erickson said.
Click to expand...
 
I have no words and still can't wrap my head around the fact that this is a random act! I know it's been speculated as such for quite sometime but it still doesn't add up. My heart goes out to the families knowing what they know now and how senseless this tragedy is.
 
I'm so with you.'I read the article twice & my BS detector is going off big time.
Why would he shoot gianni then stick around for 90 minutes?! Not 5 or 10 ...90. Something isn't right.
 
Olivia522 said:
I'm so with you.'I read the article twice & my BS detector is going off big time.
Why would he shoot gianni then stick around for 90 minutes?! Not 5 or 10 ...90. Something isn't right.
Click to expand...

Ya, I feel like we're missing at least one piece of the puzzle. Why would he drive towards home to fill up the tank and then come back? It's not like he was going to be able to put his motorcycle inside of Gianni's car. Maybe he dropped something at the scene.

I wonder where his bike was in relation to Sal's car, and whether police took note of all the vehicles in the parking lot after the shooting.

I would also like to know whether he was the guy wearing tan pants and hooded sweatshirt.
 
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...alley-Murders-Evidence-in-Docs-411429095.html

One week after a San Diego Man pleaded guilty to murdering three young San Diego residents... NBC 7 has obtained records detailing, for the first time, the evidence prosecutors planned to present to a jury, had the case gone to trial...

While the documents do not provide major updates to information previously released, the documents did detail a clear timeline of what investigators believed led up to and followed the triple homicide along with new information about Mercado’s history leading up to the crimes.
Click to expand...
 
OkieGranny said:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...alley-Murders-Evidence-in-Docs-411429095.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for the article. Very interesting. It says Mercado was up to no good with that motorcycle of his, in the past, trying to deceptively cheat and scare people out of money via fake accidents.

Please read this:
In the Statement of Facts, Erickson also details evidence, found by investigators, that suggests Mercado had a history of motorcycle accidents and attempting to “fleece” money from other drivers involved.

One incident was in August 2012. According to court records, Mercado crashed his motorcycle into the back of a man’s truck and later that day sent the driver “an aggressive email” where a list of motorcycle parts were listed with prices for each repair.

In that situation, according to the court records, Mercado told the driver the total cost for repairs came out to over $2,000 but Mercado said he would be willing to settle for half of the amount.

The records state a San Diego District Attorney Investigator contacted the driver of that vehicle who explained Mercado had crashed his motorcycle into the back of the driver’s truck while at a stop light and the driver assisted Mercado with his bike and called police.

When the driver received the “aggressive email” from Mercado, the records show the driver verified with his father and insurance company he would not be responsible for the costs Mercado was asking for and ignored Mercado’s email and text messages.
Click to expand...

:frown:Wonder what he had up his sleeve the night of the crimes. He surely was in a nasty mood at Christmas time 2013 riding around on his motorcycle and he just happened to have on his person a gun and most likely the gun silencer.

The Statement of Facts presented evidence Mercado filed a false insurance claim on his motorcycle days after the triple-homicide took place.

Mercado’s motorcycle played a role in the investigation as according to prosecutors, Mercado, after killing Gianni and fleeing the scene in Gianni’s car, returned to the parking lot of Westfield Mission Valley mall to remove his motorcycle he had left behind.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...alley-Murders-Evidence-in-Docs-411429095.html
Click to expand...

Here's the Timeline:

Timeline: Brothers, Fiancée Killed in Triple Homicide Mystery
A look at the key events in the slayings of Ilona Flint, Salvatore Belvedere and Gianni Belvedere
By Monica Garske
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...-Flint-Mission-Valley-Shooting-241991751.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 184 more.
Total: 3,966 (members: 185, guests: 3,781)

Online statistics

Members online
185
Guests online
3,781
Total visitors
3,966
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,298
Messages
17,966,953
Members
228,736
Latest member
charharr
Back
Top