Laken Riley murder suspect seen in video ditching bloody clothes, gloves shortly after killing: report
Prosecutors in the Laken Riley murder case have been fighting back against suspect Jose Antonio Ibarra's attempt to suppress evidence, including videos.
Prosecutors in the Laken Riley murder case have been fighting back against the suspect’s attempt to suppress evidence, including videos that allegedly show him ditching bloody clothes shortly after the murder. Back in May, 26-year-old Venezuelan migrant Jose Antonio Ibarra, pleaded not guilty to 10 counts connected with the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student’s murder.
Last month, the suspect requested a hearing to potentially suppress certain key evidence, including cell phones, a cheek swab and social media accounts. Ibarra alleged that cops unlawfully obtained these when they entered his apartment without a search warrant.
Two crucial videos
However, prosecutors said in a new filing that they had grounds to enter Ibarra's property due to two videos that matched his description, Fox News reporters. One video allegedly showed him peeping through a window of an on-campus apartment to spy on a university staff member the day Riley was killed. “One video was taken from near and around University Village housing building ‘S’ that was associated with the peeping Tom incident,” the filing stated.
Prosecutors said the second video was taken from near Ibarra’s Athens apartment complex. “The other video was taken at the Dumpster of the apartment complex that abuts UGA property and is less than one-half mile away from where Laken Riley was murdered,” said the filing.
The video taken at the Dumpster “depicts a Latino male disposing of a bloody jacket with long dark hair on it and bloody gloves less than 30 minutes after the murder of Laken Riley and within a half mile from her body,” the filing further stated.
“The Dumpster video further shows the Latino male was wearing a black baseball cap with a white Adidas logo, white script underneath the logo, and a sticker on the bill of the hat,” prosecutors said.
Athens-Clarke County Sheriff’s Office sergeant is said to have come across a man near the apartment complex less than 12 hours later. The man was wearing an “identical’” hat, and when the officer spoke with him, he identified himself as Jose Ibarra’s brother, Diego Ibarra. Diego was detained until another officer who spoke Spanish came to the scene.
At this point, authorities thought they had probable cause that evidence of the killing could be found inside the apartment. The property was shared by Jose and Diego Ibarra, and a third brother.
The prosecution claimed that at this point, police could not waste time seeking a warrant. They decided that quick action was needed “to secure the apartment pending the application of a search warrant for fear of additional destruction of evidence.”
“To require the officers in this case to remain outside defendant’s apartment while unknown parties inside continued to destroy evidence of the murder as the officers obtained a search warrant would defy common sense and be patently unreasonable,” prosecutors said.
Meanwhile, the prosecution has also denied Ibarra’s request to exclude testimony from a witness who performed DNA testing during the victim’s autopsy. The DNA evidence came from the deceased student’s fingernails, discarded bloody gloves, a black Adidas baseball cap and a blue jacket. The prosecution said all of the material “report a match statistic that will aid the jury in its determination of the guilt or innocence of defendant for the crimes charged in the indictment.”
Ibarra, who was reportedly identified via a thumbprint left on Riley’s cell phone, allegedly beat her so horrifically with an object that her skull was disfigured. Ibarra abducted and killed Riley when she went for a run on the University of Georgia campus. Riley was found dead near a lake on the campus in Athens, and had died from "blunt force trauma," according to official police reports.