By Khalida Sarwari
A Santa Clara County prosecutor called the 2008 slaying of Los Gatos restaurant owner Mark Achilli the result of a love triangle that led to a case of murder-for-hire, but the attorney for one of three men charged in the killing said that his client was being made a scapegoat.
Esequiel “Paul” Garcia, Miguel Chaidez and Lucio Estrada are all charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Achilli, who owned the popular downtown Los Gatos nightspot Mountain Charley’s saloon and the adjacent 180 Restaurant until 2007 when he sold them to Garcia. All three face life in prison if convicted.
A fourth man arrested in connection with the murder, Daniel Chaidez, a Mountain Charley’s bouncer, later pleaded guilty to a voluntary manslaughter charge in exchange for testifying against his cousin Miguel.
The 53-year-old Achilli was gunned down in the driveway of his Overlook Road townhouse on the morning of March 14, 2008.
The trial began this morning and is expected to last until mid-October.
In the packed courtroom of Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge David Cena, prosecutor Jeff Rosen told jurors Garcia was in love with Tessa Donnelly, a woman both Achilli and Garcia had dated, and wanted to kill Achilli because she ultimately chose him over Garcia.
Rosen displayed text message exchanges between Garcia and Donnelly in which he repeatedly asked her, “Are you playing games?” In the days leading up to the murder, Garcia sent her more than 70 texts and called her 30 times, Rosen said.
Rosen said Garcia had told Donnelly he was in love with her and wanted to marry her after six weeks of dating, but that in January 2008, Donnelly had told him she was in love with Achilli and wanted to go back to him, causing Garcia to become increasingly jealous and possessive.
Garcia had friends spy on Donnelly and searched for a private investigator online, but continued pursuing her, Rosen said. At the same time, he told a friend named Joey Battiato that he was angry with Achilli and wanted him killed.
When Battiato told him it wasn’t a good idea, Garcia said they could make Achilli’s death look like a drug hit.
“Paul Garcia wanted it and paid for it, Chaidez arranged it. Estrada did it,” Rosen said. “The ‘it’ is killing Mark Achilli.”
Rosen said Garcia asked Daniel Chaidez for his help in arranging for the murder of Achilli, and gave him $9,500 in two separate payments for the job. Miguel Chaidez then contacted Estrada in Southern California and offered him money to get rid of Achilli, Rosen said.
Garcia advised Chaidez that if Donnelly happened to be with Achilli during the shooting, she should be killed, too, saying, “Every war has its casualties.”
In Estrada’s apartment in Burbank, police recovered a black bag stuffed with shooting-related books, guns, ammunition, $2,000 in cash, an LA Dodgers hat, and a purple spiral notebook with “ramblings of a hit man,” Rosen said.
On a screen, Rosen displayed images of Achilli’s body lying in front of his townhouse with his pants and head bloodied and autopsy photos showing a bullet wound in his temple.
Following Rosen’s opening statement, Estrada’s defense attorney, Charlie Giilan, briefly told the jury the evidence will show that Estrada did not commit the crime. He said Estrada was in town to collect a debt from Achilli, and cited a housecleaner at the townhouse who told police Estrada
was not the shooter.
Harry Robertson, defense attorney for Garcia, countered that Achilli used cocaine and that he “had a drug problem.” He said Donnelly had chosen him because only he could provide Donnelly with drugs.
He said Donnelly had been playing the two men against each other and that she was making Garcia a scapegoat.
“Paul was upset and he was confused,” Robertson said. “He was actively seeking help for making sense of his world.”
He told jurors to watch Donnelly’s body language when she takes the stand and to listen closely to her testimony.
Robertson said Daniel Chaidez had “sold his soul” and was a liar whose testimony could not be trusted.
Rosen called three witnesses to the stand today, including two Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police officers who discussed the evidence collected at the scene and Margo Simmons, a retired teacher who lives on Chestnut Avenue down the road from Achilli’s townhouse.
The trial will resume Thursday morning with more testimony.