A man’s “desire for money” led him to beat and kill a co-worker at a Mira Mesa wire transfer and shipping business, a prosecutor said Monday, but a defense attorney told a jury that police arrested the wrong man.
Leopoldo Pacuan, 51, is charged with premeditated murder and murder during a robbery in the May 17, 2014, death of 63-year-old Raquel Morales. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted.
Deputy District Attorney Amy Maund told jurors in her opening statement that the killing was a “crime of convenience” and “an inside job” at the business that catered to the Filipino community.
The prosecutor said Pacuan had worked at LBC Express in Mira Mesa in the past, but had been out on disability with a shoulder injury since October of 2013.
The night of the murder, Pacuan waited for the store to close at 7 p.m. and called Morales to let him in the back door, Maund said.
Pacuan made a wire transfer at 7:15 p.m., then Morales began balancing her books, according to the prosecutor.
After Morales made a $10,000 “drop” into a safe that already contained $8,000 in cash, Pacuan got violent with the victim, beating, stomping and stabbing her at least nine times, the prosecutor alleged.
Morales’ bloodied body was found in the business early the next morning.
“The defendant did this over his desire for money,” Maund told jurors.
When Pacuan couldn’t get the money from Morales, he took her watch, wedding ring, purse and cell phone, the prosecutor alleged.
Pacuan’s DNA was found on a piece of latex under the victim’s body, and he was arrested four days later, Maund said. The prosecutor said the defendant’s watch also had the victim’s blood on it.
Defense attorney Euketa Oliver told the jury that a man who worked a couple of doors down from Morales and interacted with her the day of the murder was the real killer, who was subpoenaed to come to court but committed suicide before he could testify.
Oliver said the killer wore latex gloves, the same kind that were found outside LBC on May 18, 2014.
Oliver said Pacuan was a married man who supported six children in the Philippines. She said her client cooperated with police and voluntarily gave them a DNA sample.
–City News Service
