Judge hears testimony about Fresno roommate feud turned deadly. ‘He was stabbed 19 times’
Gruesome witness testimony characterized a Thursday court hearing for a 21-year-old man accused of helping his girlfriend dispose of his roommate’s body after a residential feud turned deadly.
Judge Arlan Harrell determined there was ample evidence to put Lawrence Madrid on trial for allegedly being an accessory to murder and mutilation of human remains in the death of Sergio Bonboster, 20.
Madrid’s girlfriend at the time, who was 17, is accused of stabbing Bonboster to death. Senior Deputy District Attorney Elana Smith said efforts to prosecute the girlfriend as an adult are pending.
Police say Madrid and Bonboster were living in a northwest Fresno apartment in fall 2021. The interaction between the two men had soured, testified Fresno Detective Loren Kasten. Arguments between them turned into physical fights.
During their final confrontation, Bonboster threw Madrid to the ground. As Madrid was struggling to get away, he yelled to his girlfriend get a knife, Kasten said.
Kasten said the defendant heard his girlfriend stabbing Bonboster, who went directly to the ground and was bleeding heavily. “He was stabbed 19 times,” Kasten testified.
According to Kasten, during interviews the defendant said he and his girlfriend dragged Bonboster’s body to the bathroom and tried to wipe away any evidence of a crime.
A search of the apartment by Fresno police, however, revealed evidence of blood throughout the apartment, including the living room, kitchen and bathroom. There were also blood stains on the cement outside of the apartment.
Smith asked Kasten what the defendant and his girlfriend did with Bonboster’s body. Kasten replied they decided to dismember it.
Madrid went to a local store and bought steak knives to separate the lower half of the body from the upper torso, Kasten said.
They disposed of the lower half of the body in the trash can of their apartment complex and put the upper torso in a laundry hamper. They carried the hamper to a nearby canal where they dumped it and set it on fire. They also draped a tarp over the remains to try and conceal them.
Bonboster was reported missing on Oct. 13 by family members, many of whom were present during Thursday’s court hearing.
During the hearing, the judge also heard testimony from witness Amanda Morgan.
A day before Bonboster was reported missing, Morgan was walking her dog along the canal near West and Dakota avenues when the dog jumped into the dry canal and wouldn’t come out. Morgan carefully climbed down into the canal to fetch her dog when she noticed something odd.
“I thought it was a rubber hand, like that of a mannequin or a prop or something,” she testified. “But then I realized as I got closer that it looked like a human hand.”
Morgan stepped back, grabbed her dog, climbed out of the canal and called police.
If convicted, Madrid faces a maximum of six years in prison. Madrid is being represented by defense attorney Jason Trupkin. Madrid’s next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 22 in Dept. 30.
