By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Val Verde Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Gina Garcia testified Thursday and Friday about the investigation she led into the murder of Sandra De La Cruz.
Garcia was one of the final witnesses to testify in the murder trial of Clarissa Guerra, who has been charged with murder and evidence tampering in connection to De La Cruz’s killing, and one who stayed on the stand the longest.
Garcia spoke about how she had been the investigator on call the morning of the murder on March 7, 2021.
Under questioning from District Attorney Suzanne West, Garcia testified about finding De La Cruz’s body in the San Felipe Cemetery and how she and Texas Ranger Joe Sanchez investigated the crime scene and recovered evidence.
Garcia testified about identifying De La Cruz and gathering details about her vehicle, information which was shared with area law enforcement officials as the net began to tighten around the suspects. Garcia testified how Guerra, Ernesto Olguin and another man were stopped as they attempted to leave Del Rio.
At that time Guerra was taken into custody on an unrelated charge, and Garcia interviewed her for the first time. Guerra, Garcia said, repeatedly denied having anything to do with De La Cruz’s murder, a claim she would maintain throughout her interviews with Garcia.
“I don’t know anything” became Guerra’s mantra over the course of several interviews.
In one exchange, Garcia told Guerra there is video, but the investigator testified that video does not exist.
Half-truths, misdirection and lies are sometimes used by investigators as interview tactics, Garcia testified.
“Did you kill Sandra?” Garcia asked in another exchange with Guerra.
“F*** no . . . I don’t know what f***ing happened . . . If I did, I would tell you,” Guerra retorted.
“You’re not a murderer?” Garcia asked.
“No . . . I’m not that cold-blooded,” Guerra replied.
Garcia continued testifying Friday morning. She spoke about interviewing Olguin and testified how Olguin led investigators to the gun used to shoot and kill De La Cruz. The weapon had been buried outside a trailer house on Virginia Street.
West also questioned Garcia about an interview she did with Guerra several days after the murder, which Garcia began by showing Guerra a photo of her brother, who had been severely beaten while incarcerated at the county jail. Guerra was unaware of the beating until she was shown the photo.
Guerra become extremely emotional when Garcia showed her the photo. After a few minutes, Garcia asks Guerra if she wanted some water, then told Guerra, “You can sit here all day and cry, but if you want to talk to me, I’m going to have to advise you of your rights.”
Garcia read Guerra the Miranda warning and asked Guerra if she understood her rights. Guerra indicated she did, then signed a waiver of those rights.
“Tell us what you know about what happened, what happened to Sandra. Get it off your chest,” Garcia urged.
“He shot her, he shot her,” Guerra, still crying, replied.
“Did you shoot Sandrita (De La Cruz)?” Garcia asked.
“No,” Guerra replied, and added, “They were going to shoot both of us.”
“Who?” Garcia asked.
“Olguin,” Guerra replied.
West also walked Garcia through a number of the inconsistent statements Guerra had made during interviews over the course of the investigation.
In an exchange during one of the interviews, Garcia asked Guerra, “Why are your (finger)prints all over the bullets?”
She testified Guerra told her that she was told to pick up the casings from the shooting scene and conceal them in an empty beer can.
Under questioning by West, Garcia said no fingerprints were ever recovered, but again defended lying to her suspect as “a tactic that we use.”
Michael J. Bagley, who is representing Guerra, also had the opportunity to cross-examine Garcia and immediately zeroed in on the “tactic.”
“You outright lied to her?” Bagley asked.
“Yes,” Garcia replied, again stating that lying to a suspect is an interview tactic sometimes used by investigators.
Bagley also asked Garcia who led her and her team to the murder weapon, and she replied it had been Olguin, not Guerra.
Bagley also asked about other physical evidence recovered during the investigation.
“Ms. Guerra’s DNA was not on the revolver, was it?” Bagley asked.
“No,” Garcia replied.
And it wasn’t on any of the casings or the bullets?” Bagley asked.
“No,” Garcia said.
Under questioning by Bagley, Garcia said it would be difficult to tell how long the cigarette butt possibly carrying Guerra’s DNA, which was found in the back seat of De La Cruz’s car, had been there.
Garcia also testified she had been given the FaceTime video of a call between Guerra and an incarcerated man named Antonio “Pitaya” Elias by FBI special agents.
Bagley then circled back to ask about the photo Garcia showed Guerra at the start of one of the interviews. Bagley asked the jury be shown the photo, and it was. He also asked the first few minutes of the videotaped interview be shown to the jury.
“And your position is that (Guerra’s) statements to you were voluntary?” Bagley said.
“Yes,” Garcia replied.
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