Homeless Man Accused Of Murder Says Victim Turned Into Demon: Cop

MARTINEZ, CA — A homeless man charged with murder for allegedly beating his friend to death outside a Concord Chuck E. Cheese restaurant two years ago told homicide detectives that the victim transformed into a demon just before he was killed. Prosecutors believe Ever Linares, 34, killed Loreto Torres in an encampment near the iconic children's venue on or around May 4, 2017,
according to charging documents filed in Contra Costa County.

The two men were acquainted. They regularly slept at the scene of the crime and had been known to drink together, investigators said during a preliminary hearing Thursday in Martinez.

After the homicide, but before the body was discovered, Linares allegedly accosted a security guard with an unlit road flare near the scene of the crime. An unidentified stranger who is not believed to have been a party to the altercation apparently distracted him with a bag of fast food,
and the guard was able to take shelter in a vehicle until police arrived.

Responding officers noticed a red substance that might have been blood on Linares' fingers, and even checked for wounds on his hands and arms, but dismissed it as ketchup due to the presence of fast food wrappers. He could not be identified at the time, but police placed on a "5150" 72-hour mental health hold on him as John Doe.

While he was in the hospital, Torres was found with just his leg sticking out from under a blanket. Linares was identified as a suspect and arrested on Diamond Boulevard, some time after his release.

When interrogated by homicide detectives, with the assistance of a Spanish language translator, police say his story varied repeatedly. At times he denied any altercation and said he'd had a good relationship with Torres, but he also said the victim had attempted to drug him for the purpose of
physical and sexual assault.

However, he confessed at one point, according to Officer Eduardo Montero.

"Mr. Linares told me he killed Mr. Torres," Montero said.

Linares allegedly told detectives he had broken the victim's finger, punched and kicked him five to 10 times, then used some kind of a stick or wooden pole described as a "garden stake" in court documents to finish the job.

"Do you remember him saying something to the effect of 'he wouldn't die so I hit him with a stick'?" asked Deputy District Attorney Satish Jallepalli.

Montero answered in the affirmative. Jallepalli then asked if Linares had mentioned any kind of transformation during the interrogation.

"Mr. Linares said the victim turned into a demon," Montero said.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Sara Spiegel with the Contra Costa County Office of the Public Defender, Montero was asked to elaborate.

"He kind of bared his teeth and made a hissing noise to describe it," Montero said. "He said (Torres) looked like a different person," he added.

She also asked if at any point investigators discussed pausing the interrogation and coming back at a later time or date, because Linares was too "out of it," and Montero admitted that they had in fact asked him about his availability the following day.

Many of her questions centered around the defendant's mental state, as well as the mental health of at least one witness, though the prosecution objected to some of those questions and Judge Theresa Canepa had them struck from the record. They are likely to be revisited if the case goes
to trial before a plea agreement can be reached.

Linares was held to answer for Torres' murder. He is scheduled to return to court July 17.

— Bay City News Service