Laguna Murder Case Goes to Jury

Identity -- mistaken and accurate -- is the central issue in the trial of a man accused of murdering a woman and trying to kill her husband while robbing their downtown Laguna Beach ice cream shop, jurors were told Monday.

Gilbert Corrales Garcia, 32, is charged with fatally shooting Simindokht Roshdieh, 53, who owned a Baskin-Robbins store with her husband, during a string of robberies in 1995.

Jurors, who have been asked to sort out a slaying that shook Laguna Beach’s small-town sensibilities, began deliberations late Monday.

The murder charges against Garcia came six years after the shooting and five years after authorities dropped their case against an earlier suspect. The first suspect, Manuel Ramirez Rodriguez, was identified as the killer in lineups and robbery footage by several witnesses, including the dead woman’s husband.

Rodriguez was on parole and a heavily tattooed former gang member. His aunt called authorities after seeing a segment about the killing and robbery on “America’s Most Wanted.” Rodriguez denied any involvement in the shooting and eventually testified against Garcia.

Defense attorney George Peters said during closing arguments Monday that no physical evidence placed his client at the ice cream store and that the killer could have been any number of male Latinos, including Rodriguez.

“No reasonable jury would take the identities given in this case and convict anyone,” Peters told jurors. “This is a flawed case, and you better be very, very cautious.”

But Orange County Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin Haskins said Garcia was the right man.

The Laguna Beach slaying climaxed a series of four Orange County robberies on Feb. 20, 1995, which included a holdup at a Tustin Baskin-Robbins that was captured on videotape.

Garcia’s estranged wife, Nydessa Whittaker, testified during the monthlong trial that she was his driver that night and that he accidentally shot a man at the Laguna Beach stop after his hand was slammed in the cash register.

Peters tried to discredit Whittaker, a convicted drug dealer, telling the jury she was testifying in exchange for immunity from prosecution, $5,000 in cash and placement in a witness protection program. Calling Whittaker “the crown jewel of this flawed prosecution,” Peters told jurors that if they believed her then they also needed to believe that the shooting was accidental.

Haskins said Whittaker’s personality and previous criminal activity shouldn’t discredit her testimony, which included details about the various locations and a recollection of the balloon she said Garcia brought her after the first robbery that night at a Costa Mesa flower shop.

“I know she’s an awful person,” Haskins told the jury. “But how on earth would she get those details correct? All that detail points to veracity.”

Firooz Roshdieh, who was shot in the shoulder trying to defend his wife with a broom handle, testified earlier that he is certain Garcia murdered his wife. But when Rodriguez was arrested, Roshdieh identified him as the killer with the same conviction, Peters pointed out.

Several witnesses from the other businesses that had been robbed said the man they saw had tattoos similar to Garcia’s -- three dots below his left eye and Old English writing high on his neck -- not Rodriguez’s.

Garcia was identified as a suspect after Laguna Beach detectives used a database of known gang members’ tattoos to match his markings to those of the Tustin ice cream store’s robber. At the time of his identification, Garcia was serving 20 years to life in state prison for a carjacking in Torrance.

Charges against Rodriguez were dropped after he participated in a reenactment of the Tustin robbery and his tattoos looked different from those of the man in the videotape.