An interpreter’s unavailability Wednesday forced a one-day delay of a preliminary hearing for a man accused in the robbery-motivated killing of a 63-year-old co-worker at their Mira Mesa office.
Leopoldo Pacuan, 49, is charged with murder in the death last May of Raquel Morales.
Deputy District Attorney Amy Maund said Pacuan was not working the night he went to LBC Express and allegedly tried to rob Morales.
When she resisted, Pacuan stabbed her eight times — including twice in the heart — and left her for dead, Maund said.
Officers found the victim at the LBC Express business office just before 2 a.m. on May 18, after her husband called police and asked someone to check on his wife because she had failed to return home from the cargo and courier business as usual.
Pacuan allegedly took the victim’s wedding ring and other personal items before fleeing.
The defendant was arrested at his San Diego home four days later.
—City News Service
