Quad-murder suspect's fate rests in hands of jury

By Gus Thomson, Journal Staff WriterA Napa County jury will resume deliberating today in the quadruple murder trial of former Auburn ranch hand Arturo Suarez.If found guilty of the most serious charges, Suarez faces a second trial to determine whether he should be sentenced to death.The trial was moved to Napa because of extensive pre-trial publicity and the grisly nature of the crime. The jury began hearing testimony in early March and started deliberations last week.Suarez, 33, is being represented by a team of attorneys headed by Placer County Public Defender Len Tauman while the prosecution is led by District Attorney Brad Fenocchio.Key to the Suarez case are confessions he made to investigators following his arrest in Los Angeles ? days after the July 12, 1998 killings of Suarez? 5-year-old nephew Jack Martinez, his 3-year old niece Areli Martinez, his brother-in-law, 37-year-old Jose Martinez, and Jose Martinez? brother, 28-year-old Manuel.The prime witness for the prosecution was the lone survivor of a killing spree that left her husband, two children and brother-in-law dead. Yolanda Martinez testified that Suarez raped her before leading her son and daughter by the hand to their deaths. Martinez said she had been bound during the assault but managed to untie herself and run to a nearby home for help.Suarez was not called to the stand during defense testimony. Tauman had described Suarez and the Martinez family as close before the July killings. ?Something snapped? to cause the killings, Tauman had said, and expostulated that an argument had preceded the initial shooting deaths of the two men.?As late as a week before, he was a visitor at the Martinez residence in Galt, where he played cards,? Tauman said.Tauman spent most of his statement to the jury outlining the lengthy friendship Suarez had with Jose Luis Martinez, first in Mexico in the mid-1980s and later in California, where the two found seasonal work. Suarez married Martinez? sister, who was living in Mexico with their two children at the time of the killings.The four victims were found buried in a shallow grave off Mount Vernon Road.The prosecution?s contention is that Suarez murdered the two men after luring each out individually on the pretext of bringing back a dead deer. Suarez then returned to beat, bind and rape Martinez? wife. Suarez told authorities he fondled the bound woman after cutting open her pants and underpants with scissors, but that he didn?t rape her.Traces of duct tape residue were found on the children?s faces, wrists and ankles, suggesting they had been bound before they were taken to the grave, Deputy District Attorney Tom Beattie told the jury. They were beaten several times with a shovel, placed still breathing on top of the adult victims, and buried alive, the prosecution contends.A gag order prohibits attorneys for the defense or prosecution from discussing the case with the media.