Man Pleads Guilty 2 Years After Murdering Lover and Encasing His Body in Concrete Inside Bathtub

The body of 73-year-old Gary Ruby was found in a bathtub inside his $1.2 million home in Hawaii in March 2022

Two years after the death of Gary Ruby, Juan Tejedor Baron has pleaded guilty to the murder.

In March 2022, 73-year-old Ruby’s body was found encased in concrete in a standalone bathtub. He had been reported missing the day before by his brother, according to police, and was found the following day, after speaking to Baron, who was 23 at the time. He told authorities that he and Ruby had an intimate relationship.

On Monday, Baron, now 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, ABC News reported. According to the plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to seek a life sentence without parole in exchange for Baron’s plea. They will instead recommend a minimum sentence of 20 years, the outlet reported.

The defendant’s defense attorney, Kyle Dowd, told ABC News that Baron had wanted to take responsibility for Ruby’s death, but his lawyers found evidence of “possible prosecutorial misconduct,” which impeded him.

A week after Ruby’s body was found two years ago, Baron allegedly admitted to the murder, according to an arrest warrant obtained by PEOPLE. The Colombian suspect allegedly confessed to choking Ruby to death following a sexual encounter.

After Ruby revealed his HIV-positive diagnosis, Baron used a belt to kill him, per the warrant. He told police that he then dragged Ruby’s body into the bathtub and used a kitchen knife to slit his wrists, attempting to make the death look like a suicide, per the warrant.

He also confessed to concealing the body in the bathtub after finding bags of concrete in Ruby's garage. He then poured coffee grounds over the cement “in an effort to conceal the smell of decomposition,” per the warrant.

Baron and a friend, Scott Hannon, fled Hawaii after the murder and were arrested in Anaheim, Calif. After they were found hiding in a crawl space under an enclosed bench on a Mexico-bound bus. Hannon was released as police found he had nothing to do with Ruby’s death.

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Though the exact timeline of the death is unclear, police believe Baron lived in Ruby’s $1.2 million home and drove around in his Audi A6, claiming it was his, according to the warrant. After he was arrested, he confessed he planned on “fraudulently acquiring” the home by forging documentation.

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