Attorney in Salwasser murder trial tells jury ‘the other guy did it’

There’s enough reasonable doubt about who killed farmer George Salwasser Jr. that the jury must find defendant Jose Canas not guilty of second degree murder, his lawyer told jurors in a Fresno courtroom Tuesday during closing arguments.

“Common sense and logic” show that another man, Adrian Aceves, who testified at that he didn’t see what happened because he walked away from the scene, pulled the trigger, attorney Ralph Torres said.

But gunshot residue on Aceves’ gloves proves it was him, Torres said.

Another clue pointing to Aceves guilt and not Canas is the blood pattern when Salwasser was shot, he said. If Canas had been the shooter, the pattern would have been different because of where he was standing when Salwasser was hit by two bullets, he said.

“We’ve just shown you who the killer is and it not this young man,” Torres told the jury, pointing to Canas.

But Fresno County prosecutor William Lacy told the jury that Canas confessed and the evidence backs it up. He played part of the videotaped confession during closing arguments.

Canas can be heard telling the detective, “I just got it out and you know, shot two times.”

Furthermore, the gloves did not contain gunshot residue as the defense attorney claims, he said. They contain traces of lead, which is a component of gunshot revenue, but gunshot residue would also contain barium and antimony. It’s likely the lead came from another source, he said.

Also, the bullets did not go through Salwasser’s body so the blood pattern at the scene is consistent with where Canas stood when he fired the gun, he said.

The jury of eight women and four men was handed the case shortly after noon Wednesday to begin deliberations. as the trial goes into its ninth week. The trial in the courtroom of Fresno County Superior Court Judge Alvin Harrell III had been expected to take three to four weeks.

If found guilty, Canas, 26, faces 40 years to life in prison. He was age 22 at the time of the crime. He has a wife and child.

This is his second trial. Two years ago, Canas was found not guilty of first-degree murder, but the jury hung on second-degree murder, 9-3 in favor of not guilty. He is being retried on second-degree murder.

Salwasser, 38, was killed around 6:15 p.m. on May 8, 2014, after he pulled up in his pickup truck and confronted Aceves and Canas, who were stripping a stolen pickup truck on the farmer’s property near Howard and Shields avenues, south of the tiny town of Biola.

Salwasser was killed while holding a gun and a cell phone and calling 911. He told Aceves and Canas he was calling authorities.

Canas pulled a .38-caliber revolver from his pants pocket and shot Salwasser two times, in the neck and upper back, the prosecutor said. He was a Surreno gang member who preferred a revolver because they don’t use clips that can jam, Lacy said.

Lacy told the jury that Canas at first denied any involvement, but a detective convinced him to tell the truth.

Canas also blamed the victim, Lacy said. On the videotape that Lacy played for the jury, Canas be heard saying, “He should have came at us different,” and “Finally, I’m sorry, but it’s really the victim’s fault.”

But Torres told jurors that Canas lied to detectives about firing the gun to protect his family from gang retaliation if he blamed Aceves, who was a gang member at the time.

“He told the truth” on the witness stand, Canas said.

“There’s more evidence of Adrian Aceves as the killer in this case,” he said. “The prosecution’s case is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Aceves pleaded guilty in July 2015 to voluntary manslaughter and possessing a stolen truck. In exchange for his plea, he will be sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison. His sentencing hearing is pending.

On the day of the Salwasser slaying, Fabian Mansanalez had stolen the truck earlier that day in Fresno, according to trial testimony and previous news stories.

He then drove the stolen truck to his sister’s home to enlist her husband, Aceves, to help him sell the truck’s tires and rims. Aceves called his friend Canas, and the four arranged to meet and ended up on Salwasser’s property.

While the truck was being stripped, Mansanalez and his sister, Maria Mansanalez, drove to a store a mile away to buy soda and snacks. Meanwhile, Salwasser pulled up to the crime scene in his pickup. He had a .380 Ruger in his left hand and a cellphone in his right. He told Aceves and Canas he was calling the police.

When Aceves started to walk away, Salwasser told him to stop. Once Salwasser diverted his attention toward Aceves, Canas pulled a .38-caliber revolver from his pants pocket and shot Salwasser, according to the prosecution.

One bullet entered Salwasser’s neck from the left side. Another bullet stuck the left side of his back. Salwasser died within four to seven minutes of being shot.

In his first trial, Canas testified that he was facing Salwasser when Aceves sneaked up and shot Salwasser. He also testified that Aceves forced him at gunpoint to take Salwasser’s gun after Salwasser was fatally shot

Shortly after the shooting, deputies arrested Aceves and Maria Mansanalez after she crashed her SUV in a nearby field. Fabian Mansanalez and Canas were arrested the next day.

The murder weapon never was found. But Salwasser’s .380 Ruger was found months later in Merced County. A gang associate of Canas had it, court records say.

In a separate trial in 2015, Fabian Mansanalez was convicted of possession of a stolen vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. Jurors rejected a charge of murder against him.

Maria Mansanalez also accepted a plea agreement to testify against Canas. She faces up to three years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty in July 2015 to being an accessory after Salwasser’s slaying and guilty to possession of a stolen pickup. Her sentencing hearing is pending.

This story was originally published December 19, 2018 at 10:26 AM.