DEFENDANT BREAKS DOWN IN COURT.Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW Staff Writer There was no doubt during his murder trial Monday that Julian Beltran had slit the throats of his girlfriend and the two young daughters who bore his name. He'd slain each in a fit of rage at their Sun Valley home in 2002. Dialed 911 in a cry of remorse. Then begged to end his life in a ``suicide by cop Suicide-by-cop is a suicide method in which someone deliberately acts in a threatening way towards a law enforcement officer, with the goal of provoking a lethal response, such as being shot to death. ,'' both prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed. But what prosecutors alleged was that the estranged es·trange tr.v. es·tranged, es·trang·ing, es·trang·es 1. To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate. 2. To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations. boyfriend had planned to kill his family if his longtime girlfriend refused to take him back, a contention the defense disputes. If convicted of three counts of first-degree murder, Beltran could be condemned to death. ``This defendant acted willfully willfully adv. referring to doing something intentionally, purposefully and stubbornly. Examples: "He drove the car willfully into the crowd on the sidewalk." "She willfully left the dangerous substances on the property." (See: willful) , deliberately,'' prosecutor Andrea Thompson Rebecca Andrea Thompson (born on January 6 1960) is an American actress, best known for her roles on the television series Falcon Crest, Babylon 5, and NYPD Blue. told jurors during opening statements. ``The picture will become clear: The defendant is guilty as charged.'' Beltran, 32, has pleaded not guilty. Throughout the opening statements, he sat stone still, staring at the floor with his right fist clenched clench tr.v. clenched, clench·ing, clench·es 1. To close tightly: clench one's teeth; clenched my fists in anger. 2. against his cheek. But as the gruesome details of the case unfolded, the defendant broke down, wailing and sobbing, and was escorted from the Van Nuys courtroom. Defense attorney Joel C. Koury described his client as a loving ``husband'' and dad with no record of violence who'd struggled over the custody and care of his kids. Upon learning that his girlfriend had other possible lovers, he said, Beltran committed a crime of passion. ``Julian was stretched to the breaking point -- he snapped,'' Koury said. ``That is second-degree murder, at best, and that is the appropriate charge in which to convict.'' On Jan. 23, 2002, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. court testimony, Beltran returned to his Sun Valley home after a three-month separation and murdered Mariana Michelle Barahona, 24, and the couple's two daughters, Marissa Beltran, 6, and Natalie Beltran, 2. Prosecutors said he'd bought a knife the night before and unbeknown to Michelle, ``was giving her one last chance.'' Beltran's attorney said he'd bought the knife in order to cut carne asada
About 9 p.m., Thompson said, Beltran beat Barahona and slashed her throat as she watched TV, nearly decapitating her on the living room couch before she bled to death. He then marched into a bedroom to kill his daughters. Marissa, awake during her demise, suffered 13 knife wounds before suffering the fatal 9-inch cut to her neck, Thompson said. Her 23-pound sister was no match for the 200-pound dad who sliced her throat from ear to ear. ``She, too, bled to death on her bed, with a small doll at her feet,'' Thompson said. The long-haul trucker, who'd met his girlfriend of eight years while she was in high school, then ransacked ran·sack tr.v. ran·sacked, ran·sack·ing, ran·sacks 1. To search or examine thoroughly. 2. To search carefully for plunder; pillage. the house before fleeing to Orange County and calling 911. A replay of 911 tapes played by the defense depicted Beltran beside himself over his crime. ``I cut their throats,'' said Beltran, crying on the tape. ``I'm really sorry for what I did -- I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. why, I don't know why. ``I love my (expletive) girlfriend to death -- and my (expletive) daughters.'' Beltran told a dispatcher Software that determines what pending tasks should be done next and assigns the available resources to accomplish it. It may execute other programs or generate a list for human operators to follow. See scheduler. that the couple had had an appointment with a counselor. When Orange County deputies converged on Beltran in a Stanton parking Stanton Park is a park at the intersection of Maryland Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Northeast Washington, D.C. It is bounded by 4th Street to the west and 6th Street to the east. lot, Beltran begged for them to kill him. Koury said that Barahona had barred Beltran's family from seeing his daughters for two years because of a heated family dispute. Beltran also had trouble arranging visits during their three-month separation. ``The evidence is that she revealed to him that there (was) another man, or more,'' Koury said. ``Julian knew that, if he left home, he'd never see the kids again.'' Family and friends of the victims said they didn't believe a word of it. ``We want to see him get justice, what he deserved for the horrible thing he has done to our family -- three times the death penalty,'' said Barahona's mother, Patricia Panameno, of Sherman Oaks. dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3730 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Julian Beltran broke down during his trial for killing his girlfriend and their two small children in the Van Nuys Courthouse Monday. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer |
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