Eric Bean 18, beaten/strangled 12/22/09 dumped on the road to Port Costa CA

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Local teen murdered
Eric Bean was beaten, strangled, according to autopsy report.

December 23, 2009

Eighteen-year-old Eric Bean of Martinez was found dead Monday on McEwan Road, approximately one mile north of Highway 4. A Martinez resident notified the Sheriff’s Office at 10:14 a.m. Bean was pronounced dead on the scene, and the Crime Lab and Homicide Detectives were dispatched to the location.

According to Jimmy Lee, the Director of Public Affairs for the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, the case is being considered a homicide. Lee estimates that the body may have been brought to the location post-mortem.

The autopsy was completed on Wednesday afternoon. “The cause of death is asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head injury,” wrote Lee in a press release. “No suspects or motive have been identified at this time.” The Coroner hasn’t released the time of death.

Cory Craig, an acquaintance and former classmate of Bean at the Environmental Studies Academy at Briones Independent Studies School, spoke with the Martinez Gazette on Wednesday.

“I just saw him two weeks ago at a friend’s apartment near the high school,” said Craig. “It’s so sad that bad things happen to good people. He was always willing to help people.”

Craig described Bean as a skater, who had become mixed up with the wrong crowd in the past six months. “He started getting into some bad things,” Craig said.

Craig recalled that Bean had been on a trip to New York recently and was left in Nevada on the way back by his friends. He was reportedly going to find his own way home. Craig was unsure how Bean eventually made it back to Martinez, but others report that his father might have brought him home.

Eric Bean last logged on to his MySpace page on December 10. According to the information on his page, he lived in Downtown Martinez. He liked to “party and fish and go to the city and have bome [sic] fires . . .”

Scores of friends, old and new, have lit up the teen’s MySpace page, titled “Beanie Blanco,” since his death with encouragements and lamentations.

“I miss the good old days fishin [sic] at the marina and skatin [sic] at the park … You were too young to die and too much of a good person to be taken away from us,” wrote one acquaintance.

Another posted a picture of the Martinez youth standing in the marina with a fish dangling from his finger, offering a sheepish grin to the camera. “This is the first day we wen’t [sic] fishing together under the Benicia bridge & you let me let the fish go!!!!!  now I have to let u go.”

His Internet postings give testament to his passion for fishing. He was using the online community Web site for “dating and friends” and was looking for a girl who “wants to go fishing.”

A few kids at the skate park remember Bean coming by every day, but, recently, they noted he was stopping by less frequently.

“He used to eat dinner at my house,” said Rick Crowell, the father of one of Bean’s close friends. “He was a struggling kid trying to find his own direction around here. This stuff just doesn’t happen in Martinez.”

According to Lee, the investigation is proceeding, and the full autopsy report will be released in approximately six weeks.

http://www.martinezgazette.com/news/story/i549/2009/12/23/local-teen-murdered

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Memorial service scheduled for Eric Bean
An impromptu vigil was also held over the weekend for the teen, found murdered last week.
December 29, 2009



A memorial for slain Martinez teenager Eric Bean is scheduled for 2 p.m on Jan. 3 at the Connelly and Taylor Funeral Home.

Over the weekend, roughly 150 mourners gathered in Rankin Park to hold a candlelight vigil for the popular 18-year-old, whose body was found aside McEwen Road on Dec. 22 by a passing motorist.

A subsequent autopsy revealed Bean died from asphyxiation from strangulation and blunt force head trauma. Police believe Bean was killed at another location and his body was dumped on the road to Port Costa, one mile north of Hwy. 4.

The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office is the lead investigative agency on this case, and spokesman Jimmy Lee said as of Monday afternoon, there were no updates in the investigation, and police have yet to find a suspect or motive in the murder case.

Jimmy Bean Jr., Eric’s father, told the Gazette yesterday he had last seen his son on Tuesday, Dec. 15 as he, Eric and Eric’s brother Jimmy III, 23, retired for bed at their Buckley Street home. Jimmy Bean Jr., an active member of Army Reserves and an employee of Jeffco Painting and Coating in Vallejo — where Eric also held a job — described his son as an avid fisherman and baseball player and someone who would go out of his way to help people.

“He played baseball since the age of four,” said Jimmy Bean Jr. “He fished daily, right off the [Martinez] pier. When [Downtown] flooded a few years back, Eric was right there shoveling mud. He would take in stray cats and dogs and he had never been in trouble until recently. The problem was he would befriend anybody and they — kids his age – would end up staying at the house and I’d have to chase them off.”

Over the past week, during interviews with those who knew Bean, the Gazette repeatedly heard that in the recent months he had become involved with drugs and a different crowd of peers.

“[Eric] was planning on going back to school on Jan. 15,” said Jimmy Bean, adding that he had no idea who killed his son or the circumstances surrounding his death.

Jimmy Bean emphasized that all of Eric’s friends were welcome to attend the memorial service scheduled for Jan. 3.

http://www.martinezgazette.com/news/story/i550/2009/12/29/memorial-service-scheduled-eric-bean

[Sister]

Many prayers for this young man's family.  I can't imagine the depth of their pain.  It is hard enough when your loved one dies in an accident or from a health problem, but murder . . .

[Nut44x4]

The Contra Costa Sheriff's Office has announced the arrest of four people who are expected to be charged with the murder of Martinez resident Eric Bean.

The following is from the CoCo Sheriff's Office....

Last Saturday afternoon (March 6, 2010) Detectives from the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff with the assistance of the Benicia Police Department served three search warrants in the City of Benicia in connection with the killing of 18-year-old Martinez resident Eric Bean.

The search warrants were served at locations on Carolina Drive, Seaview Drive and East 2nd Street.

One additional search warrant was served on Oakwood Avenue in Vallejo.

Four people were arrested for their role in the Eric Bean case:

36-year-old Timothy Danny Delosreyes of Vallejo
18-year-old Timothy Danny Delosreyes Jr. of Crockett
30-year-old Melody Rives of Benicia
32-year-old Robert Gardner of Benicia

All of them where booked into county jail in Martinez on the following charges: murder,
torture, kidnapping, conspiracy and being an accessory. Bail for each of them is set at
$2,620,000.

On December 21, 2009, a passerby found Bean along McEwen Road, west of the City of
Martinez. He was strangled and suffered head injuries.

While the exact motive is unclear at this time, it is believed to be linked to drugs and weapons. Detectives say Bean was killed in Benicia. Numerous people were interviewed and all leads were followed up. “Detectives have worked nonstop on this case since the killing,” said
Lieutenant Steve Warne of the Sheriff’s Office Investigation Division.

“The Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit is to be commended for its diligence, hard-work and persistence which led to the arrests of the suspects.”

Thanks to Jimmy Lee with the Sheriff's Office for the information!

http://claycord.blogspot.com/2010/03/coco-sheriff-eric-beans-killers-are-in.html

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Preliminary hearing in Eric Bean murder case scheduled today
By Greta Mart
May 27, 2010


ERIC BEAN

On Wednesday, Jim Bean, Eric Bean’s father, said he has canceled all plans for a memorial service marking what would have been Eric’s 19th birthday. His birthday was May 25, and at the time of his death, Jim Bean indicated he would organize an event over the Memorial Day weekend, but his grief is overwhelming any desire to address other mourners.

“With all the evidence being presented over the next two days, I’m not in the mood to celebrate,” said Bean, adding that the D.A.’s office warned him the presentation of evidence would be appalling and vivid.

“I can’t stand to hear what they did to my son.”

The preliminary hearing for at least two people accused of murdering Martinez teen Eric Taylor Bean is scheduled to begin this morning. However, because the public defender for Timothy Danny Delosreyes Jr., 36, was assigned to another trial simultaneously, a Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office prosecutor told the Gazette Wednesday he will petition the judge for a Friday start so that all attorneys are present.

“We could go against two of the defendants [Thursday] but I don’t want to break it up,” said Prosecutor Gerald Chang.

Since their arrest on March 6, Delosreyes, his son Timothy Danny Delosreyes III, 19, and married couple Robert Gardner, 32, and Melody Rives, 30, have been held at the Martinez Jail on charges of murder, torture, kidnapping, and conspiracy in the December 20 slaying of Bean and have appeared in court four times in an extended arraignment process.

An autopsy revealed Bean died from asphyxiation from strangulation and blunt force head trauma and police believe the four accused spent several hours horrifically torturing the teen before he died.
Gardner, through his attorney Joyce Sasse, pleaded not guilty on April 1, and refused to waive time served in jail to count towards an eventual sentence if found guilty of the murder by a jury. The remaining three eventually entered a plea of not guilty on April 22, also waiving time served.

Chang said the judge, today or tomorrow, would review the case against the four defendants to determine probable cause for a trial and issue a holding order, or an order to stand trial, on the defendants. He expects the preliminary trial to last a day and a half or two days “at the most.”

If the judge decides this week the prosecution has gathered sufficient evidence to convince a jury of the defendants’ guilt, the trial itself “won’t happen for quite some time,” said Chang. “With this many defendants, a jury trial most likely will occur much further down the line, it’s rare for it to occur within a year. The fact that we’re going to preliminary hearing in May when the case was filed in late March is unusual.”

At this week’s preliminary hearing, Chang and his associates will call witnesses, particularly police officers, and explain how the defendants committed the murder in graphic detail. The defense lawyers will also have occasion to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses and question evidence.

“The evidentiary rules at a preliminary hearing are less restrictive than a trial; for example, hearsay evidence is allowed,” explained Chang.

If a trial is ordered, the prosecution has 15 days to file new charging documents and the accused will be arraigned once again within two weeks.

Although Bean’s body was found in Contra Costa County, and the lead investigating agency in the case was the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, the murder is thought to have been committed in Benicia.

According to the D.A.’s office, Gardner and Bean stole guns from Bean’s father in order to pay off a drug debt. When Bean signaled he was regretting the theft and was poised to tell his father about his predicament, Gardner, the Delosreyes men and Rives tied him up and tortured him throughout the day on Dec. 20. Having died from his injuries, the suspects dumped Bean’s body on the side of McEwen Road in unincorporated Contra Costa, where a bicyclist discovered it on Dec. 21, said Chang.

http://www.martinezgazette.com/news/story/i1002/2010/05/27/preliminary-hearing-eric-bean-murder-case-scheduled-today

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Bean trail date set
By Greta Mart

Staff Reporter
June 22, 2010
To the outrage of family members, Melody Rives, 30, the woman originally charged with torturing and murdering Martinez teen Eric Bean, showed up at the at the Martinez courthouse on Monday and sat directly behind Eric Bean’s father, Jim Bean.

In April, Rives cut a surprise deal with the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office for no prison time and release from custody in exchange for her preliminary hearing testimony against her husband, Robert Gardner, 32, and two former close friends, Timothy Danny Delosreyes Jr., 36, and his son Timothy Danny Delosreyes III, 19, in the Bean murder.

At the arraignment for the remaining three co-defendants the judge ordered a trial date start of August 2.

“It was highly unusual for a trial to be set so soon in a case with time not wavered,” said Gerald Chang of the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office. “It’s all in the decision making process of [defendant] Gardner and his attorney.”

As for Rives, Chang clarified that the original charges against Rives still stand, but by virtue of her arrangement with the court – release from jail in exchange for her “truthful” testimony against the other three accused – she remains free. Rives must appear in court in August to enter a plea; in the meantime, she must obey all laws and cooperate with the D.A.’s office, said Chang. He wasn’t confident that Rives’ case would move forward until the trial of the two Delosreyes men and Gardner was completed.

“Depending on where we are with [the three men’s case], ultimately [the judge] will put it over because the other case wouldn’t have been resolved by then,” Chang explained.

Jim Bean expressed his outrage on Monday afternoon that Rives would appear at the court date, stating, “she showed no remorse. She was smiling at people. I could not believe it. It was pretty unsettling.”

During the June 1 preliminary hearing, the Delosreyes’ public defenders and Gardner’s lawyer, Joyce Sasse, protested that Rives’ testimony was “ridiculously unreliable” and she was obviously trying to minimize her involvement in the murder, as well as the role of her husband, defendant Gardner, and pin all blame on the youngest accused, Delosreyes III.

On Monday, the alternate public defender for Delosreyes III announced she was leaving the office; the case will be reassigned to a yet-unnamed attorney.

The pre-trial in this case was set for July 15.

http://www.martinezgazette.com/news/story/i1079/2010/06/22/bean-trail-date-set


mmmmmmm.......looking for Trial info now. August has come and gone.

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DA awaits psychiatric evaluations in Eric Bean case

COURTS UPDATE: Michael Gressett case proceeds after judge denies motion to drop all charges
 
July 17, 2011
snipped........more
Two of the three men accused of murdering Martinez teenager Eric Bean in 2009 claimed mental incompetency in May and underwent psychiatric evaluation, according to a county prosecutor and one suspect’s defense attorney.
 
“The doctor’s reports are due next week,” said Gerald Chang of the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office on Friday.
 
All three suspects, a father and son pair named Timothy Danny Delosreyes Jr., 37, and Timothy Danny Delosreyes III, 20, and Robert Gardner, 33, are due back in court on July 20.
http://www.martinezgazette.com/news/story/i2858/2011/07/17/da-awaits-psychiatric-evaluations-eric-bean-case


looking for most recent update

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Murder suspects declared mentally competent
August 2, 2011

Two of the men accused of torturing and murdering 18-year-old Eric Bean in 2009 recently lost a bid to be declared mentally incompetent to stand trial – often a precursor to invoking the insanity defense.

snip
Morton is now appealing that decision and Peck said a competency jury trial for Delosreyes III will be held in early September.
 
Robert Gardner, 33, is facing the same charges as Delosreyes III and his father Timothy Danny Delosreyes Jr., 37. Gardner’s lawyer, Joyce Sasse, also filed an incompetency motion, but the court psychologist found him to be mentally competent.
 
“His attorney is not going the challenge that finding,” said Peck, adding that Gardner and Delosreyes Jr. are now scheduled to stand trial for Bean’s murder on October 31.
snip
http://www.martinezgazette.com/news/story/i2949/2011/08/02/murder-suspects-declared-mentally-competent