Key witness testifies in trial of man accused of Fresno County couple’s brutal slaying
A key witness in the double murder trial of Leroy Johnson provided grisly details Tuesday of the 2009 slaying of Kerman couple Gary and Sandra De Bartolo.
The De Bartolos were killed inside their modest home on July 22, 2009, during a botched robbery involving six people searching for money and marijuana.
Johnson, 54, is charged with the gruesome murders of the De Bartolos and faces the death penalty if convicted. His lead attorney is David Mugridge.
One of Johnson’s co-defendants Jose Reyes, 31, testified on behalf of the prosecution Tuesday. Reyes struck a plea deal with the Fresno County District Attorney in exchange for testifying against Johnson.
He and Johnson have been in Fresno County jail for 12 years waiting for their hearing to go forward.
Dressed in a crisp white shirt, Reyes told the jury what happened the day of the bungled robbery. The crew was assembled to pull off what they hoped would be a haul of high-grade marijuana and cash. The would-be robbers included Andrew Jones, Chris Butler, Dawn Singh, Neko Wilson, Johnson and Reyes, he testified.
All of their cases have been resolved except for Johnson and Reyes. As part of his plea agreement, Reyes pleaded guilty to several felonies including two counts of voluntary manslaughter with a gun enhancement. He faces up to 32 years in jail, instead of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Lawyer Mark King, the other half of Johnson’s defense team, questioned Reyes about whether he was telling the truth or just what prosecutors want to hear. “This isn’t about what they want me to say, it’s about telling the truth,” Reyes said.
Reyes, a former Bulldog gang member, described how the robbery plan seemed to have problems from the start, including being under surveillance by a team of multi-agency law enforcement officers.
The plan was for four of them to burglarize the home located in the 1500 block of El Mar Lane in Kerman. But when they pulled up near the house, only Reyes and Johnson got out.
When they entered the home, Johnson, who was armed with a knife, and Reyes, who had a handgun, were startled to see Sandra De Bartolo sitting on a sofa, according to the testimony.
Reyes said they only expected to find the husband, Gary De Bartolo. Reyes tried to calm her down while asking if there was anyone else in the house. She said yes, her husband Gary, who was taking a shower.
“When I first saw him, he was naked,” Reyes said. “I told him to calm down and to put his underwear on.”
Johnson forced Sandra De Bartolo into the couple’s bedroom where Reyes and Gary De Bartolo were standing.
“We kept asking them where is the marijuana and the money,” Reyes said. “But he said there was nothing there except some little plants he had in a closet.”
After Gary De Bartolo showed Reyes the plants he took him into their son’s bedroom where he said he might have hidden some money.
They didn’t find any, and what happened next, shocked him, Reyes testified
“I heard someone say ouch and when I turned around I seen Leroy slice Gary’s throat,” Reyes said, taking a deep breath. “I left that room in shock.”
As Reyes bolted from the room, he saw Sandra De Bartolo’s lifeless body laying face down on the floor next to her bed.
Asked by prosecutor Bill Lacy if killing the couple was part of the plan, Reyes quickly said, “No.”
“Nothing like that was supposed to happen, I didn’t want to be involved in something like that,” Reyes testified. “I didn’t trust Leroy after that, I didn’t know if he was going to do the same to me.”
Reyes testified that he pointed his gun at Johnson as he ran through a screen door to get out of the back of the house. He jumped the back fence, dumped his gun and managed to find one of the other accomplices who was driving his own vehicle. They fled, but Reyes later turned himself in to the police.
Johnson ran out the front door of the home and jumped into the waiting getaway car, a silver Chrysler 300 driven by Singh.
Watching everything unfold were members of the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium (MAGEC) an anti-gang task force. The task force got a tip that an Asian gang was planning a home invasion robbery of the De Bartolo home. Several undercover officers were watching the house at the time of the robbery.
A former gang detective testified Tuesday that when they saw Reyes and Johnson go into the De Bartolo home they didn’t think it was unusual since they suspected marijuana was being sold out of that home. They also weren’t Asian.
The trial continues Thursday in Dept. 60.
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
