Secret recordings played in court reveal kidnapping plot of Clovis girl, DA says
Fresno County Sheriff’s Sgt. David Rippe testified Thursday that he had a big smile on his face when he listened to the secret recordings between accused kidnapper Sandra Garcia and one of her accomplices, Miguel Carriedo.
The recordings, made by Carriedo, are key pieces of evidence in the case against the Madera mom charged with conspiring to commit a crime, sexual penetration by force, kidnapping, torture and dissuading a witness by force.
“I felt like we solved it,” Rippe said. “It laid everything out.”
Garcia is accused of being the mastermind behind the 2016 kidnapping and torture of a 13-year-old girl from Clovis.
Prosecutor Adam Christopherson alleges Garcia wanted to traumatize the girl and her younger sister so badly that they would want to return to Sweden to live with their mother.
Christopherson says Garcia was trying desperately to hang onto to her crumbling relationship with the girl’s father, a Swedish-born business executive.
Recorded phone calls in kidnapping conspiracy
The recorded calls were conversations between Garcia and her cousin Carriedo about how to get the girls to leave the U.S.
Detectives extracted the phone calls from Carriedo’s blue LG phone that was found inside his car during a search warrant. Also found were several thumb drives, SD cards, micro SD cards and four cell phones.
Carriedo, who was living in Lompoc at the time, recorded all his phone calls because he was in the midst of child custody battle and wanted to protect himself.
At one point during his conversation with Garcia, he warns her that they need to be careful about discussing their plot. He recommends they use apps to hide their phone numbers when talking to each other.
She doesn’t appear to care and continues talking about what she wants to do.
“I want them to be so (expletive) scared,” Garcia said in one of the phone calls. “Like I want you to cover their faces, like crazy, crazy, and like kind of rip off their clothes.“
Garcia described her boyfriend’s home in northeast Clovis as the perfect place to grab the girls. She said there were no security cameras, no alarms and lots of space to hide.
Garcia also came up with what she thought was solid alibi. She told Carriedo that she was going to make a doctor’s appointment at the same time the kidnappers were supposed to grab the girls.
Kidnapping, sexual assault trial continues
The day of the kidnapping, the plan almost fell apart. The youngest daughter, who was 10 years old at the time, stayed home sick from school and Garcia was forced to take her to the doctor’s appointment.
On Feb. 16, 2016, the kidnapping happened. The 13-year-old walked from the bus stop to her home, where she was taken by three men. She was driven to the foothills and tied to a tree where she was brutally sexually assaulted.
The alleged kidnappers included Carriedo, and Garcia’s two sons, Mark Anthony Roque and Brandon Roque.
Carriedo pleaded guilty to conspire to commit a crime and torture. Garcia’s other son, Brandon Roque, pleaded no contest to conspire to commit a crime.
Garcia and Mark Anthony Roque remain on trial. If convicted, they face the possibility of life in prison.
The trial continues next week in Dept. 74.
This story was originally published October 6, 2023 at 7:42 AM.
