By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-11 23:05:31 | Updated at 2024-12-22 17:23:05
1 week ago
A Hawaii murder victim was buried alive in wet cement after his furious young lover discovered that the 73-year-old had HIV, a court has heard.
Gary Ruby, 73, was found entombed in a bathtub at his $2.2million gated Honolulu home in 2022.
His now 26-year-old partner Juan Tejedor Baron originally confessed to the grisly murder, but has since walked back his admission.
And at a Monday court hearing to determine if his guilty plea may be rescinded, the court heard more gruesome details about the circumstances of Ruby's death.
'There’s an inference that Gary was still alive when you poured the cement over him,' Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bell said, the Star Advertiser reports.
Baron responded that this was 'speculation' as he confirmed that he was aware that the allegation appeared in the prosecution's case.
Baron previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, identity theft and two counts of theft of property as part of a plea deal.
The terms would have seen the state agree not to seek a life without parole or a minimum mandatory sentence of more than 20 years.
Hawaii murder victim Gary Ruby was buried alive in wet cement by his furious lover after he discovered his boyfriend had HIV, a court has heard
Juan Tejedor Baron, 26, has been charged with the grisly murder and originally confessed to the crime
Colombian-born Baron appeared in court where he received the assistance of a translator
However, Colombia-born Baron has since argued he did not fully understand the plea deal as he did not have a translator present.
His defense, Randall Hironaka, seeks to provide that Baron was afraid of receiving the death penalty and was under the influence of prescription drugs at the time.
In October, a hearing began on a motion to withdraw his guilty plea before Oahu Circuit Judge Catherine Remigio.
Baron testified that his former lawyer Kyle Dowd impressed upon him that he would die in prison, which he took to mean that he would be sent to the electric chair.
He added that a weekly prescription he was taking at the time impaired his judgement.
The hearing will continue on December 23 and is to include testimony from Baron's former attorneys and an interpreter.
California cops arrested Baron shortly in March 2022 in connection with the brutal killing.
He had attempted to flee the country after the murder, making it as far as a bus terminal in the Golden State before he was apprehended by LA-based lawmen, who found him 'hiding in a crawl space under an enclosed bench' of a Mexico-bound bus, police said.
Baron has walked back on the admission and is in the process of trying to get his guilty plea rescinded, claiming he did not understand the terms of the plea deal he took
Baron confessed to the killing, telling cops he murdered longtime Honolulu resident Ruby, with whom he had been in a romantic relationship, after learning the latter was HIV positive.
According to the arrest warrant, Baron told detectives he killed the victim after he told him he had HIV following a sexual encounter in February, spurring the suspect to strangle his much older lover with a belt.
'Baron stated that he had sex with Gary but became angry after Gary informed Baron that Gary was HIV-positive,' the warrant reads.
Baron stated that soon after he noticed Gary choke slightly while eating, at which point he 'reacted by placing a belt around Gary’s neck and tightening the belt until Gary lost consciousness.'
Baron told cops he then dragged the elderly man's corpse to the bathtub, before using a 'kitchen knife to slit Gary’s wrists in an effort to stage a suicide.'
Cops said that Baron then confessed to attempting to cover up the killing, pouring cement he found inside Ruby's garage and coffee grounds over the victim's body in the tub - before realizing that he did not have enough to submerge the slain senior.
'Baron then drove to Lowe’s to purchase four additional bags of concrete and further filled the bathtub, covering Gary,' the filing states.
Baron further told detectives that he then added coffee grounds to the bathtub concoction, to better mask the smell of Ruby's decomposing body.
Ruby, 73, was found entombed in a bathtub at his $2.2million gated Honolulu home in 2022
'Baron stated he used coffee grounds to cover the cement in an effort to conceal the smell of decomposition,' the affidavit states.
Following the murder, Baron attempt to pass off Ruby's gold 2020 Audi A6 and multi-mullion dollar home as his own when questioned by lawmen investigating Ruby's sudden disappearance, telling officers he had purchased both from the deceased.
According to the warrant, Baron admitted to officers to taking over ownership papers of Ruby’s car and even had plans to try to acquire the home.
