A jury on Thursday, Nov. 7, convicted a Pasadena man of attacking and killing a 76-year-old Arcadia woman with a hammer, drywall saw and box cutter after she discovered him burglarizing her garage five years ago.
Closing arguments in the trial of Heber Enoc Diaz were held Thursday at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles. Jurors came back with a verdict after deliberating less than an hour.
They convicted Diaz of the first degree murder of Chyong Jen Tsai and found true the special circumstance allegations that the murder was committed during a robbery or attempted robbery and that the murder was committed during a burglary or attempted burglary. The jury also found him guilty of robbery, first-degree burglary, two counts of second-degree burglary and elder abuse likely to cause great bodily injury or death.
Jurors also found true all the allegations which include personally using a deadly and dangerous weapon and inflicting great bodily injury on someone 70 or older.
Diaz, 33, faces life in prison without parole at his Dec. 16 sentencing.
Tsai’s family was in court and stood up as the jurors filed past them on the way out. Tsai’s two daughters were crying.
The case stems from the April 9, 2019 murder of Chyong Jen Tsai at her home in the 300 block of East Forest Avenue. The Tsais were having a granny flat built in their backyard.
Diaz, who was one of the construction workers, had stolen tools from the property on March 19. He struck again on April 9 but Tsai spotted him and asked why he was there.
“As soon as he saw her, Mrs Tsai was going to die,” Deputy District Attorney Miriam Avalos told the jury during closing arguments.
Tsai tried to run away but Diaz caught her and tripped her, the prosecutor said.
“She’s a 76-year-old woman. All he had to do was let her go,” Avalos said.
Tsai screamed for help. A neighbor heard screaming for about 30 minutes, Avalos said.
Diaz attacked Tsai with a hammer, a dry wall knife and a box cutter. He hit her several times with the hammer, stabbed her multiple times, cut her neck twice and tried to do it a third time, Avalos said. Tsai was also strangled and suffered broken ribs.
Tsai did not die right away, Avalos said. She died from the combined effects of multiple sharp force injuries, multiple blunt trauma and asphyxia, according to the medical examiner’s office.
While Tsai lay in the backyard, he stole cash and other items from the house and took the car, which was in the detached garage, according to the prosecutor.
During an interview with detectives, Diaz claimed Tsai attacked him and that he had to defend himself. Avalos said that was one of his lies.
Diaz, who was arrested April 19, 2019, made statements while in county jail with an undercover informant, a deputy and an inmate that day.
“He said his intention was not to hurt Tsai. He described her as a nice lady, ” Diaz’s lawyer, Simon Aval, told the jury.
Diaz talked about his intention of stealing tools when he went to the Tsai home on March 19, 2019, Aval said.
“He goes to the back house, take the tools and leaves. He doesn’t go to the main house,” Aval said.
Diaz’s intention on April 9, 2019 was to take tools and leave, Aval said.
Diaz said he took the tools and as he was leaving encountered Tsai, according to the defense.
“He panicked. This was a crime of impulse,” Aval said.
Diaz fled with a white 2005 Lexus RX300, $4,500 in cash, Tsai’s purse, a cell phone, credit cards, identification cards, a violin and other items, sheriff’s detectives said.
After the murder, Diaz drove the Lexus to his Pasadena home, Detective Michael Haggerty said.
Diaz talked to a friend and co-worker, Luis Gaitan of Altadena. They headed to Angeles Crest Highway and dumped some of Diaz’s clothing and some of the victim’s property, he said. They also got rid of the Lexus.
Authorities found the SUV in Los Angeles on April 18, 2019. Diaz was arrested the next day.
They found the hammer next to Tsai, the dry wall knife in the Lexus and the box cutter under Diaz’s mattress, said Francis Hardiman, one of the detectives on the case who is now retired.
Gaitan took investigators to the spot in the forest where they threw the bag containing Diaz’s clothing and the victim’s belongings, Hardiman said.
They had sheriff’s search and rescue go down and look for the bag, he said, adding the bag was found about 50 feet down.
Investigators later arrested Gaitan and a relative of Diaz, Isis Villalobos of Pasadena.
Villalobos pleaded no contest on June 28, 2019 to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to five years probation and community service.
Gaitan on Sept. 25, 2019 also pleaded no contest to being an accessory after the fact and received a 2-year sentence.