By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Testimony in the ongoing murder trial of Daniel Lopez on Thursday began with the account of
one of the Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office investigators who collected evidence, interviewed
possible witnesses and helped build the murder case against him.
Lopez, 51, is on trial in 83rd Judicial District Court here for the Oct. 2, 2023, shooting death of
21-year-old Jose “Joey” Burgi. Burgi’s body was found in the early morning of Oct. 2, 2023, in
an area of the county just north of Del Rio.
District Attorney Suzanne West, who is presenting the case against Lopez to a jury of five men
and seven women, called Thursday’s first witness, Val Verde Sheriff’s Office (VVSO) Lt. Mario
Vargas, who currently heads the sheriff’s office criminal investigations division (CID).
West first questioned Vargas about his work history with the sheriff’s office, his training as a law
enforcement officer and as an investigator. Vargas said Shaun Davis, who left the sheriff’s office
to take a position with the U.S. Marshals Service, was the lead investigator on the Lopez case.
He said VVSO Lt. Gina Garcia, who headed the VVSO’s CID in October 2023, also assisted
with investigating the Burgi murder.
West asked Vargas to explain to the jury the initial work he did on the case, and Vargas said
investigators first encountered the name “Danny” – later identified as Daniel Lopez – as being
associated with their victim on the afternoon of Oct. 2, 2023.
Vargas testified he also learned from Burgi’s girlfriend, Alondra Olivas, that Burgi had the Life360: Find Family and Friends
tracking app on his phone. Vargas testified the information gleaned from that app “was very
helpful” to the investigation.
Vargas testified Olivas, who had seen Burgi and Lopez together hours before Burgi’s murder,
received a text from Lopez saying he had dropped Burgi off two houses down from her home.
The investigator also testified that Burgi was not dropped off near Olivas’ house; the data from
the Life360 app on Burgi’s phone showed Burgi never returned to Del Rio.
West questioned Vargas at length about other location information investigators learned by
parsing the Life360 data. Vargas said Burgi’s Life360 data showed that his phone stopped
moving on the U.S. Highway 90 bridge over Lake Amistad. He said at the time the phone
stopped moving, Burgi was already dead.
Vargas testified he was part of the team that went to the bridge to look for the phone and other
evidence. He said he and other investigators recovered Burgi’s damaged blue Apple iPhone, as
well as a black iPhone case, a shotgun bolt, a cell phone film (for covering a cell phone’s screen),
a firearm trigger and a firearm trigger guard.
In cross-examining Vargas, Mireles asked whether or not investigators had obtained search
warrants for other persons in Burgi’s and Lopez’s circle, and Vargas replied that neither he nor
other investigators had sought search warrants for the homes of those individuals and had not
requested warrants for the contents of their phones.
Mireles also asked if Olivas, Burgi’s girlfriend, had denied investigators permission to dump the
contents of her phone, and Vargas said she had not given investigators permission.
Mireles continued questioning Vargas at length about other individuals in Burgi’s and Lopez’s
group of friends and acquaintances, including Ruben Hernandez, Maria Hernandez, Lovely
Moreno, Geneva Rosales, Rene Garcia and Dan Villarreal.
Mireles also closely questioned Vargas about the processing of the crime scene, the area near the
intersection of Las Brisas Boulevard and Sundance Kid Trail where Burgi’s body was found.
Mireles asked whether or not Vargas or any of the other investigators measured the distances
between Burgi’s body and items like spent shotgun shells found there.
Mireles hammered Vargas with questions when Vargas testified no measurements had been taken
and no diagram had been drawn of the scene and items found there.
“Why weren’t you more diligent?” Mireles probed.
“It was the middle of the night, and it began to rain; it caused us to rush,” Vargas replied.
On re-direct, West asked Vargas if he or other investigators could obtain search warrants for
homes or phones “just because you want to know.”
Vargas said they could not, adding, “We have to have probable cause that person can provide
information about a crime.”
West also asked about a sheet of paper recovered from Rosales, which included the names of
many of the people in Burgi’s and Lopez’s circle, as well as a list of cryptic notes.
West then called Rosales to the stand to testify.
Rosales, clearly uncomfortable in her role as a witness, testified she was a friend of both Burgi
and Lopez. She testified she had been at Lopez’s home, but didn’t recall exactly when.
When West asked Rosales if she remembered talking to law enforcement, she replied, “The days
are hard to remember.”
West also asked Rosales if she remembered meeting with her and one of her investigators at the
district attorney’s office last week.
When West asked Rosales if she recalled telling West she had seen Lopez leaving his father’s
house with a shotgun, Rosales claimed she did not say that.
At one point, West asked the judge to let her treat Rosales as a hostile witness, and there was a
break while West reviewed her notes from her interview with Rosales.
Under further close questioning by West, Rosales claimed what she had said in her interview
with the district attorney was that Lopez had once shown her a gun at his father’s house. Rosales
testified she had seen “a long gun” inside an old Ford Mustang parked outside the elder Lopez’s
house.
Rosales also testified later that she had heard Lopez say, “I’m going to kill him,” while Lopez
was speaking of Burgi, but quickly added she believed Lopez used the phrase “as a figure of
speech,” and she did not take it as a threat.
Under cross-examination by Mireles, Rosales testified she was nervous and that there had been
threats made to kill her.
Mireles also asked her, “Do you feel investigators tried to twist your words?”
“Yes,” Rosales replied.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
