Police: Undocumented immigrant said he killed man over girlfriend's alleged rape

The homicide that landed Mexican citizen Fermin Garcia-Gutierrez on national news, touted as a cautionary tale about America's lax borders, was a retaliatory crime against another man whom Garcia-Gutierrez believed had raped his girlfriend, according to testimony in Hamilton Municipal Court.

The aggravated murder charge against Garcia-Gutierrez was bound over to a grand jury this week to decide whether there's enough evidence to indict the 46-year-old on the charge. That jury likely would decide, too, whether the case should carry a potential death sentence.

Garcia-Gutierrez was already in jail on gun and drug charges when the body of Fernando Reyna Oviedo, 41, was discovered in a garage at 1139 S. 13th St. Oviedo and another man lived in the house on the property, while Garcia-Gutierrez stayed in the garage. Oviedo, who'd been beaten and shot in the head, was found entangled in an inflatable mattress by a fourth man who'd entered the garage looking for a borrowed cement mixer that he aimed to return to its owner.

That's according to testimony at a Wednesday preliminary hearing by Hamilton Police Sgt. Eric Taylor, who interrogated Garcia-Gutierrez in Spanish while in custody. Much of the evidence against Garcia-Gutierrez came from statements he allegedly gave Taylor during that interrogation.

Butler County sheriff calls out Garcia-Gutierrez case in politically charged comments on illegal immigration

Charges against Garcia-Gutierrez made national news after Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones appeared on multiple news outlets denouncing him and other "illegals."

"This is an example," he said. "Under President Biden and Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, we've became a border state. We have a thousand prisoners from other countries that have been in our jail in the past three years."

A spokesperson from Brown's office said presidents of both parties have failed at the border, which is why Brown "proudly voted for the bipartisan border security bill."

"He will keep fighting to ensure that law enforcement – both at the border and in Ohio – have the personnel, tools and resources to keep communities safe."

Jones' press circuit after Garcia-Gutierrez's arrest surprised some involved with the case because Jones' office is not handling the investigation. While Jones told Newsmax anchor Greta Van Susteren that Garcia-Gutierrez had likely killed before, neither he nor his department are part of the investigation, which falls under the jurisdiction of Hamilton city police.

Garcia-Gutierrez has not been previously charged with murder, but he has faced other charges in Butler County dating back to 2006, according to records released by county officials in response to an Enquirer records request. Among those charges: carrying a concealed weapon, driving without a license and improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle.

Many of his legal run-ins were holds related to him having immigrated illegally.

Robert Gunn, spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Detroit field office, said Garcia-Gutierrez has been deported six times starting in 2007. His latest removal was July 21, 2019, which followed a conviction the previous year for illegal reentry.

Garcia-Gutierrez said talk turned violent, not intent to kill

Garcia-Gutierrez's latest arrest could cost him his life, as was highlighted by Wednesday's preliminary hearing. The prosecution's focus appeared to be on establishing that Garcia-Gutierrez forced Oviedo into the garage to confront him about allegedly raping Garcia-Gutierrez's girlfriend. If Garcia-Gutierrez is found to have forced Oviedo inside the garage, he could face the death penalty because the murder would have then coincided with a kidnapping.

Two members of the Mexican consulate traveled from Indianapolis to attend the hearing, at which a translator sat by Garcia-Gutierrez's side to quietly relay questions and testimony to him during the proceeding.

According to Taylor, Garcia-Gutierrez said he stopped his girlfriend, who said Oviedo had raped her, from setting the house in which Oviedo was living on fire. Garcia-Gutierrez insisted that he and Oviedo talk, but that got heated, leading Garcia-Gutierrez to bash Oviedo with a shovel.

He didn't aim to kill Oviedo, Garcia-Gutierrez allegedly told Taylor, but that after he'd hit him with the shovel, Oviedo threatened to call the police. That's when Garcia-Gutierrez allegedly pulled out a revolver and shot Oviedo in the forehead before leaving his body in the padlocked garage.

Garcia-Gutierrez's arrest on gun and drug charges came one or two days after the killing, Taylor testified.

The sheriff's office released a recording of a 911 call they received April 1. In it, a man speaking broken English said he found a dead body in the garage, though it took the dispatcher several minutes and the help of a translating service to understand what he was saying.

Garcia-Gutierrez's lawyer, Billy Guinigundo, asked that bail be set for his client, a request Judge Daniel Gattermeyer denied. Garcia-Gutierrez is set to remain in jail until a grand jury is empaneled to weigh the evidence against him. If the jurors indict him, the case will head to trial.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Police testify that alleged rape is at root of murder charge in Hamilton