Fresno County judge denies bail for murder suspect who Googled ‘how to flee to Samoa’
A Fresno woman charged with murder was denied bail by a Fresno County Superior Court judge after investigators found she had been searching the internet for countries without extradition.
Heather Marie Aguayo, 37, is in the Fresno County Jail awaiting trial for the alleged murder of John Bolech, 56, of Fresno.
Court documents show Aguayo is alleged to have shot and killed Bolech by firing a single shot to his head.
“An eyewitness to the murder saw (the defendant) run up and give (the) victim a hug and then defendant suddenly shot victim in the head for no apparent reason,” according to the court document.
Bolech’s body was found on a dirt road in January near Jensen and West avenues in southwest Fresno.
It took detectives nearly four months to track Aguayo down and arrest her. She’s charged with murder and assault with a firearm.
Although her bail was set at $1.5 million, prosecutor Tim Galstan wanted Judge James Kelley to deny her bail.
Galstan said a search of her phone revealed she had made numerous Google searches prior to her arrest. Some of those internet searches included countries with no extradition treaty with the United States, how to become a Honduran citizen and how to flee to Samoa.
The defendant also searched “can a California resident just straight move to Vatican City?” according to prosecutors.
Aguayo’s defense attorney Linden Lindahl denied his client had any intentions of fleeing the country. He said her internet searches were just random.
“If the people were to seize my telephone and look through my Google searches they might think I am either a Hell’s Angel or a foot model, or some other ludicrous thing,” he said.
The judge, however, didn’t find Aguayo’s search history to be just casual curiosity.
“That doesn’t seem like a random search,” Kelley said. “I don’t think I have ever searched what non-extradition countries are. And with someone in her position it does give rise to at least an inference that maybe she is looking to flee the jurisdiction.”
Lindahl asked about how does the District Attorney’s Office knew she did the searches. “We can play for the court a recording of her using her voice to do Google searches,“ Galstan said. “She has a very distinctive voice.”
Kelley approved Galstan’s motion for no bail but promised to revisit the issue with Aguayo present. She is currently in COVID-19 quarantine at the jail.
This story was originally published July 31, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
