New details emerge in Ibarra murder case
New charges have been filed in the Santa Maria moving truck murder case. Now six of the eight accused are charged with murder. All eight suspects appeared in court Monday for their arraignments.
Santa Maria Police Chief Ralph Martin addressed the media Monday afternoon about the slaying of Anthony Ibarra and the people suspected of killing him on March 17.
“We then went inside the location and it was clear that there was a major assault that took place,” said Martin. “I attribute the homicide to a combination of gang activity, drug activity and territorial activity.”
Police found the body of the 28-year-old in the back of a moving truck last Tuesday.
“There were markings on the body. It appeared that he had been tortured over at least a two-or three-hour period of time and that he eventually died from we believe to be a stab wound,” said Martin.
Ramon Maldonado, Reyes Gonzalez, Santos Sauceda, Anthony Solis, Robert Sosa and David Maldonado are all charged with murder with enhancements.
“We’ve got kidnap, laying in wait, torture and for gang purposes. So those are four different theories to get murder one,” said defense attorney David Bixby.
The other two defendants, Carmen Cardenas and Pedro Torres, have been charged with accessory to murder after it was committed. None of the suspects entered a plea Monday. They will return to court April 10 for further arraignment.
