By Khalida Sarwari
A 31-year-old man will be arraigned in court Friday on charges of murder and assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a 2010 home invasion robbery in which a 75-year-old man was killed.
Gilroy police announced the arrest of San Jose resident Russell Edward Garcia today.
He is suspected of attacking two residents with a baseball bat the night of April 13, 2010, at a home in the 1000 block of Montebello Drive in Gilroy, police said.
Officers responding to a report of a disturbance arrived at the home around 10:15 p.m. to find 75-year-old Marcelino Cardenas on a couch in the living room with severe head injuries and the second victim, a 40-year-old man, lying in the kitchen with wounds to his legs.
Cardenas died on April 25, 2010. The second victim was treated at a hospital and released.
Investigators identified Garcia as a suspect in the case in July. He has been in custody at Santa Clara County Jail on unrelated charges since May, according to police.
Garcia has pleaded no contest to the charges in a May 2010 San Jose case, according to Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Lisa McCrary.
The charges include second-degree robbery; being armed with a firearm; being a felon in possession of a firearm; robbery of a motor vehicle for hire; carjacking; attempted harming, interfering with or obstructing a police officer’s horse or dog; and resisting arrest.
He is expected to be sentenced on the charges on Monday.
Garcia is separately facing three misdemeanor charges including two for domestic violence in connection with incidents in San Jose in March and May of 2010. The third charge is petty theft, paraphernalia and under the influence, stemming from an October 2009 case in San Jose.
Those charges will be considered at a pre-trial conference on Feb. 2.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact police Detective Michael Bolton at (408) 846-0350. People wishing to remain anonymous can call (800) 78-CRIME.
