A jury has found a man guilty of first-degree murder for a second time in the shooting death of a Vancouver senior.
In January 2019, 69-year-old Zenen Cepeda Silva was gunned down while he was sitting on a porch on Fraser Street in Vancouver with his wife.
Alvaro Julio Roche Garcia was arrested shortly after.
Silva’s wife suffered a stroke before the first trial and never took the stand. The jury did hear audio recording of her testimony in a preliminary inquiry that her husband’s dying words were “look how Alvaro has killed me.”
B.C.’s highest court found the trial judge made an error by allowing the jury to consider this alleged declaration as fact when the testimony was never cross-examined. That, and a couple other issues, resulted in the conviction being was struck down in 2024 and a new trial was ordered.
Now, after five weeks of trial, the new jury has found Roche-Garcia is guilty of first-degree murder, but a motive in the case was never made clear.
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In this trial, Crown counsel Daniel Port said the couple knew the accused for about 15 years during their time living in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Vancouver.
Garcia told the court he had no reason to shoot and kill Silva.
His lawyer argued there was a lack of hard evidence linking Garcia to the crime.
A sentencing hearing is now set to be held next month.
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