Sierra Lamar -- Missing 3/16/12 #2

justanopinion wrote:

Thats-Out wrote:Just reviewing this article abut the "direct" evidence


Authorities believe missing Northern California girl is dead


Santa Clara County sheriff announces the arrest of a suspect in Sierra LaMar's slaying. She says there is 'direct' evidence the Morgan Hill girl, 15, is dead.

May 23, 2012|By Kate Mather, Los Angeles Times






 


Investigators don't know where 15-year-old Sierra LaMar is, but they are almost certain she is dead.

For more than two months, the high school cheerleader's family has been holding out hope. They have organized repeated searches of the Northern California neighborhood where she disappeared and made numerous public appeals for help.



 
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On Tuesday, even as authorities announced the arrest of a 21-year-old suspect on suspicion of murder, Marlene LaMar vowed not to stop looking for her daughter.

"Her body hasn't been found," Marlene LaMar said at a news conference, her voice breaking. "I believe there was a reason she wasn't found. We're not giving up on that."

But Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said there was "direct and circumstantial" evidence that led investigators to believe that Antolin Garcia-Torres, 21, kidnapped and killed the Morgan Hill girl, who disappeared in March on her way to school.

Investigators think Garcia-Torres, a Morgan Hill resident, picked Sierra at random.

"We believe this is the worst kind of crime: a stranger abduction of a young girl," Smith said at Sheriff's Department headquarters in San Jose.

Investigators found the teenager's cellphone March 17, the day after she was last seen walking to her bus stop. The next day, they found a Juicy bag with her clothes folded neatly inside.

DNA was found on the items in the bag, Smith said. After receiving lab results March 28, Smith said, investigators identified Garcia-Torres — already in the system for a previous arrest — as their suspect and began around-the-clock surveillance.

"We needed additional information," Smith said. "We were hoping he would lead us to where Sierra was."

Smith did not elaborate on why detectives made the arrest Monday night at a Morgan Hill Safeway grocery store except to say that "public safety was our primary concern."

"Even though we had been surveilling him, surveillance is not perfect," she said. "We wanted to make sure this did not happen again."

After officials recovered Garcia-Torres' red Volkswagen Jetta, they found additional evidence linking him to Sierra, Smith said. She declined to elaborate on the evidence but said it did not include blood.

The DNA also connected Garcia-Torres to a March 2009 assault in Morgan Hill, Smith said. She did not disclose the specifics of that incident.

 
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Garcia-Torres, who was previously convicted on a misdemeanor charge of interfering with a police officer, was also arrested but not prosecuted in connection with a felony assault. Smith said that the assault was not sexual, but that the arrest resulted in Garcia-Torres' inclusion in the DNA database used to identify him as a suspect.

Garcia-Torres' sister told the San Jose Mercury News, "It's not him."

"I honestly feel they don't have enough evidence to convict him," 26-year-old Lucero Garcia said.

Garcia said her brother is married with a young daughter. His wife is three months pregnant.

"It feels like we're in a movie right now," she said. "An unfair movie."

Several details are still not known about Sierra's disappearance, Smith said, including where her body is, how she was killed or when.

Other suspects were identified and watched during the investigation, Smith said, but detectives believe Garcia-Torres acted alone.

Although neither a weapon nor a body has been found, Smith said, investigators have "strong facts" indicating that Sierra was murdered.

"These are very, very difficult cases to prosecute, a homicide when you have not found a victim," she said. "But it has been done."

Marlene LaMar begged her daughter's suspected killer to "say where she is."

"Please, please give the information that you have to lead us to Sierra to help end this nightmare," she said.

 The highlighted sentences for me say the whole story... she did not say my brother did not do this... just that they did not believe there was
enough evidence to convict... the family knows something IMO.

Alessandra_Deux wrote:Garcia Torres, DA’s Office still sharing evidence

Man accused of killing Sierra LaMar declines to enter plea

Posted 23 hours ago

Antolin Garcia Torres, the Morgan Hill man accused of kidnapping and killing Sierra LaMar, declined to enter a plea yet again Thursday at the Hall of Justice in San Jose today, as the attorneys involved in the case have yet to complete the evidence sharing process.

http://www.morganhilltimes.com/mobile_adv/#/news/crime_fire_courts/garcia-torres-da-s-office-still-sharing-evidence/article_ea61cdc0-0b85-11e3-a960-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm

Alessandra_Deux wrote:Sierra Lama Murder, Kidnapping Suspect Appears in Court

By Monte Francis   |  Thursday, Jan 9, 2014  |  Updated 4:45 PM PST

It’s been more than a year and a half since his arrest, and the man accused of kidnapping and killing Morgan Hill teenager Sierra Lamar still has not answered to the charges.

Antolin Garcia Torres appeared in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Thursday and again, refused to enter a plea.

~Snipped~

Judge Sharon Chatman refused to enter a plea on the defendant’s behalf and set a new hearing date for March 3rd. At that time, she said she expected that a date for a preliminary hearing would be set, and that Garcia Torres would also enter a plea.

Read more:

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Sierra-Lama-Murder-Kidnapping-Suspect-Appears-in-Court-239512371.html

Freckles wrote:Same as AD shared:

Sierra LaMar murder suspect pleads not guilty
http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/crime_fire_courts/sierra-lamar-murder-suspect-pleads-not-guilty/article_f4a924e8-c890-5e04-b0a4-c36463b98852.html

Lash wrote:AGT finally plead...not guilty. Awaiting trial. Both attorneys are preparing for the capital case. I expect the trial will begin early next year. Nothing more on the hair on the rope or any other evidence.

Cali wrote:FINALLY ~ The date for the trial has been set for: April 25, 2016.  These trials should not be allowed to drag on and on, when there is enough evidence to convict.

It is costly, and extremely emotionally painful for the family of Sierra La Mar.  I feel so sad for them.

Alessandra_Deux wrote:Sierra LaMar Murder Trial: Defense Gains Access to DNA Analysis (Video)

The case started four years ago this week when the Morgan Hill teen disappeared while walking to a school bus stop.

By Damian Trujillo

Attorneys representing the suspect in the Sierra LaMar murder trial will now be getting access to a potential key piece of evidence: DNA analysis.

The lawyers for Antolin Garcia-Torres filed a motion last week to obtain the evidence. A crime lab previously tested the DNA on LaMar's pants and received a hit on 12 profiles, with one of those profiles being Garcia-Torres.

Lawyers representing Garcia-Torres escorted the suspect into court on Monday and announced the defense "went over both protective orders and came to an agreement" to gain access to the evidence.

The defense wants to know who the other 11 profiles from the lab test belong to.

Read more:

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Sierra-LaMar-Murder-Trial-Defense-Gains-Access-to-DNA-Analysis-373004731.html

Freckles wrote:They have found 11 OTHER profiles from others who ARE in the DNA criminal data base...
I am trying to recall: Where were the pants found?

Vid indicates a rope was found in trunk of his car that had hair belonging to her...
I was not aware a rope had been implicated in this crime... Wow. More evidence is coming to light.