Murder trial begins in bizarre Fresno killing

A murder trial began Monday for a Fresno pair who are accused of using street justice in the killing of a man who had sexually assaulted a woman.

Margaret Alaniz, 25, and Anthony Gilbert Nunez, 44, are charged in Fresno County Superior Court with first-degree murder in the bizarre stabbing death of 27-year-old Oscar Seja inside a central Fresno home two years ago.

They also are charged with torturing a woman, known only as Jane Doe, mercilessly for several days before Seja sexually assaulted her.

In opening statements of the trial, prosecutor Gabriel Brickey told the jury that “street justice is not real justice.”

He said Alaniz and Nunez stabbed Seja 22 times in a chaotic act of vigilantism and revenge.

But Fresno attorney Gerald Schwab Jr., who is defending Alaniz, told the jury that Jane Doe played a role in Seja’s killing because she told police she helped bury his body under the house where the sexual assault happened.

Seja was killed Aug. 21, 2013, inside a home at 2623 E. McKenzie Ave. near Belmont Avenue and Highway 41. Schwab described the home as a “meth head crash house with miscreants coming and going at all hours of the day and night.”

According to Brickey, Jane Doe went to the home to settle a debt. After she knocked on the door, Alaniz answered it and invited her in.

Soon after, Alaniz, who is known as “C-Loca,” shut the blinds to the windows, turned up the music and assaulted Jane Doe, Brickey said.

Nunez, who is known as “Troubles,” then grabbed the woman, tossed her into a closet and tied her hands and feet, the prosecutor said.

Later that night, Nunez had a change of heart and untied the victim, causing Alaniz to get enraged and spray Jane Doe with an acid. “The pain is unbelievable. Her skin is burning and she loses consciousness,” Brickey told the jury.

The 35-year-old Jane Doe was held captive in the house for several days before Nunez took her to the garage, the prosecutor said.

After falling asleep, Jane Doe woke up to find a stranger – Seja – staring at her and offering her food and protection in exchange for sex, Brickey said.

Powerless, Jane Doe didn’t resist when she had sex with Seja, Brickey said.

Soon after, Alaniz became enraged when she learned Seja had sex with Jane Doe. After Alaniz told Jane Doe to take a shower, Alaniz and Nunez fought with Seja inside the home. While Nunez held him down, Alaniz stabbed him “again and again and again,” Brickey told the jury.

Afterward, Alaniz told others inside the house to clean up the bloody mess, the prosecutor said.

To get her freedom, Jane Doe had to help Alaniz and Nunez bury Seja’s body under the home, Brickey said.

But Schwab said Jane Doe, who was given immunity by the prosecution to testify, had motive to kill Seja. In fact, investigators never found Alaniz’s fingerprints on the murder weapon, he said. “Jane Doe was raped by Oscar but gave police three different stories as to what happened,” Schwab told the jury.

Schwab also said Jane Doe was free to leave and never asked for help from the other people in the house. In fact, Schwab said, the evidence will show that Jane Doe left the house to score some drugs and then returned before she was raped. .

This story was originally published October 5, 2015 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Murder trial begins in bizarre Fresno killing."