Jury Votes for Cinco’s Death in 2 Murders

After less than seven hours of deliberation over two days, an Orange County jury voted Friday to recommend the death penalty for Joselito (Jerry) Cinco, convicted last month of the 1984 murders of two San Diego police officers.

Cinco, 28, of Spring Valley, looked straight ahead after hearing court clerk Merle Turner read the death verdict.

Jurors deliberated about 6 1/2 hours Thursday and Friday. The only other sentence they could have recommended was life in state prison without the possibility of parole.

The trial was moved to Orange County because of excessive pretrial publicity in San Diego.

No Comments From Jury

After the verdict was announced, the jury left through a side entrance of the courthouse and told deputy marshals and the court clerk it did not want to be interviewed.

The same jury convicted Cinco on Feb. 18 of first-degree murder with special circumstances in the Sept. 14, 1984, deaths of San Diego Police Officers Kimberly Tonahill, 24, and Timothy Ruopp, 31.

Judge Luis Cardenas set formal sentencing for May 23. He can overturn the jury’s recommendation, but such a move is unlikely.

“I feel bad for Mr. Cinco and his family and I feel bad for the Tonahill and Ruopp families,” Cinco’s attorney, John Cotsirilos, said after the verdict. “I’m sure they (the jurors) considered it very seriously.”

‘A Just Verdict’

San Diego County Deputy Dist. Atty. Howard Shore said of the verdict: “I was pleased but not surprised. It’s a just verdict and I think it’s the right verdict.”

Security was tight as eight deputy marshals were present in the courtroom and all spectators were required to pass through a metal detector.

The unsmiling jurors were led into the courtroom about 45 minutes after they told the clerk they had reached a verdict.

The sentence will automatically be appealed to the California Supreme Court.

Prison Threat Cited

In closing arguments Thursday, San Diego County Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Neely told jurors to consider the risk Cinco might pose to guards and other prisoners if he were given a life sentence.

“If a man is capable of gunning down armed police officers, he’s capable of anything,” Neely argued.

The prosecutor held up pictures of the slain officers and asked the jury whether Cinco had shown them mercy.

Cotsirilos presented testimony Tuesday from Cinco’s mother, Lolita Cinco Zamora, who begged jurors to spare his life, and from his father, brother and two children.

Special Circumstances Found

Opening statements in the guilt phase of the trial were presented Nov. 16, and the penalty phase began Tuesday.

The three special-circumstance allegations the jury found to be true were that the murders were of police officers in the performance of their duty, they were multiple, and they were committed to escape arrest.

The last California execution was in San Quentin State Prison’s gas chamber in 1967. More than 100 inmates are already on Death Row in San Quentin.

Cotsirilos argued during the guilt phase that Cinco was guilty of second-degree murder. He said the large amount of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana Cinco had ingested that night contributed to the slayings.

Hot Summer Night

Ruopp had stopped Cinco, two 15-year-old girls and Cinco’s friend Victor Casillas in the Grape Street section of Balboa Park on a hot summer night.

Ruopp smelled alcohol in paper cups the girls were holding and ordered them into his patrol car, according to testimony.

Tonahill arrived at the scene and began frisking Cinco for weapons. He grabbed a 9-millimeter pistol he was carrying in a shoulder holster and shot her.

The fatal bullet skirted the side of Tonahill’s bulletproof vest and entered her heart, killing her instantly. She was shot three more times.

Ruopp was shot above his eye and was hit by three more bullets elsewhere.

Officer Gary Mitrovich arrived shortly afterward and was shot in the shoulder by Cinco. Jurors also convicted Cinco of attempted murder in that shooting.

Cinco remains in the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana without bail.