RIVERSIDE: A fifth suspect is sought. They face murder charges in the slaying of the activist.

06/21/2002

BY LISA O'NEILL HILL and JOSE ARBALLO JR.
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

RIVERSIDE - Five Riverside gang members will be charged today with murder and committing a hate crime in connection with the stabbing death of a gay activist, authorities said.

"The only motive for this attack was hatred," Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach said at a news conference Thursday.

Although it appears only one of the five used a knife during the attack on Jeffery Owens, all the suspects can be charged with murder under the law, Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Anne Corrado said. The men, who face 40 years to life in prison if convicted of all charges, are members of a Riverside-based gang, she said.

One of the men also will be charged with attempted murder for stabbing Owens' friend, Michael Bussee, authorities said.

Owens' death spurred outrage in the city and beyond. Owens, a 40-year-old Moreno Valley man who had worked for the Inland AIDS Project, was fatally stabbed just before midnight June 5. He was attacked while looking at photographs of a recent Joshua Tree trip in the parking lot of The Menagerie, a gay bar on University Avenue in downtown Riverside.

Hundreds attended a candlelight vigil after Owens died, the Human Relations Commission organized emergency meetings, and a memorial with flowers, candles and messages was erected in the parking lot where he was attacked.

Riverside investigators arrested four of the men -- who range in age from 18 to 28 -- late Wednesday after serving search warrants at five homes in Riverside and Highgrove.

They are scheduled to be arraigned today. Police are still looking for the fifth suspect.

During the attack, a man wearing a white Raiders jersey and baggy pants approached Bussee, 48, punched him in the face and stabbed him, police said. When Owens confronted the man and several others -- wearing black Raiders jerseys -- Owens was attacked and stabbed, police said.

Owens' partner, Jeff Holland, has said he heard someone say, "You want some trouble . . . fag, here it is."

Community help

Leach credited the community with helping his detectives, who have worked around the clock for the past two weeks to make the arrests.

Investigators said they received many telephone calls and pieces of information from people, helping them clarify events before and during the crime.

Owens' mother, Joyce Brown, said the arrests helped alleviate the depression she has suffered since the death of her son.

Brown said she's taken solace in prayer and support from her church congregation.

"I've been praying and praying from day one that something would start happening," she said. "Just knowing that they do have (the suspects) helps tremendously with how I feel."

Holland said he never doubted Owens was a victim of hate.

"Just the fact that it wasn't provoked, that they did not steal anything from us. . . . It's hard to figure out what other motivation there could be. I'm glad that (authorities) feel strongly enough about it that they're willing to file it that way," he said.

The suspects

Police would not be specific about what led them to the men.

But about 7 a.m. Wednesday, five teams of officers served search warrants at five homes in Riverside and Highgrove. They later interviewed eight people and seized a black Chevrolet truck similar to one seen leaving the parking lot where Owens and Bussee were stabbed.

By the end of the day, Dorian Lee Gutierrez, 18, Viviano Cruz Marin, 25, Miguel Angel Ramos, 28, and Ramin Meza Rabago, 18, were booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in downtown Riverside on suspicion of murder, committing a hate crime and belonging to a street gang. Gutierrez also was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in the stabbing of Bussee, Owens' friend.

Corrado said Gutierrez was the one who also stabbed Owens.

Gutierrez's grandmother said her grandson is not a troublemaker.

Dora Gutierrez said she knew Dorian Gutierrez had been arrested but that she did not know why. When told he had been charged with murder, she began sobbing.

"They gotta be wrong. He wouldn't do something . . .," she said, her voice trailing off.

A woman who identified herself as Marin's sister said her brother was at Sandy's Pub the night of the killing but said he had nothing to do with the stabbing.

She said police raided Marin's apartment last week, searching for a Raiders jersey, which she said he has never owned. Police picked up her brother last week and interviewed him late into the night before eventually releasing him, she said.

Attempts to speak with relatives or friends of Ramos and Rabago at their homes were unsuccessful.

Criminal records

Marin has had several brushes with the law over the past seven years, including two convictions for burglary and one count of assault, and has served time in county jail and state prison.

According to court records, Rabago at the time of his arrest was free on $50,000 bail in connection with a separate criminal case filed against him earlier this year. Court records allege Rabago and another person -- both armed with knives -- attacked a man in a Highgrove home in January, telling the victim and his family they would be harmed if they called police.

"You call the police and I'm gonna kill your family," Rabago allegedly said, according to the records.

Ramos was convicted of possession of a controlled substance in July 1995, sentenced to 120 days in custody and placed on three years' summary probation, according to court records.

Reaction

Owens' relatives and friends said the arrests gave them some solace.

"My heart jumped in my chest when I got the news," said Bussee, a marriage and family therapist at a psychiatric hospital.

He said Riverside police had been caring and compassionate during the investigation. He also said he was relieved to hear the suspects had been charged with a hate crime.

"There was no other motive," Bussee said. "We were minding our own business."

Brown said her life is empty without her son.

She said she often drives her motorized wheelchair from her downtown Riverside home to The Menagerie to light incense for Owens. It's always patchouli, she said, because it was his favorite scent and the one he wore.

For Mother's Day, Owens gave Brown a gold ring with her birthstone in the center and the stones of her three sons around it. And, he gave her a pair of earrings with his topaz birthstone, which is the same as hers.

"At least I have that to hold on to," she said.

Staff writers George Watson and Tanya Sierra contributed to this report.

Reach Lisa O'Neill Hill at (909) 368-9462 or loneillhill@pe.com and Jose Arballo Jr. at (909) 368-9412 or jarballo@pe.com