Boy Threatened Sister Before Shooting Her, Detective Testifies

A 14-year-old boy accused of murdering his 12-year-old sister told her, “You better be quiet or I’ll shoot you,” moments before fatally wounding her with a .22-caliber rifle, an Anaheim police detective testified Thursday.

Detective Carl Martin said Richard Hubler threatened his sister, Gema Marie Hubler, while the boy was on the telephone talking to a friend who later recounted the episode to police.

But the friend who overheard the argument, Cynthia Alvarez, recanted her earlier statement to police and testified in court that she only heard Hubler threaten to “kick her ass.”

“Did he say, ‘You better be quiet or I’ll shoot you?’ ” Deputy Dist. Atty. Brent F. Romney asked Alvarez during the second day of the murder trial.

“I don’t remember,” she replied.

Alvarez was one of Hubler’s friends who provided testimony that was inconsistent with earlier statements made to police shortly after the June 14 shooting at the Hublers’ Anaheim residence.

Alvarez’s interview with police was tape-recorded, Martin said.

Hubler threatened to shoot his sister, Martin testified, after the brother and sister got into an argument over the use of the telephone and after the girl said she would tell their parents that Hubler had a firearm.

At the time of the incident, Hubler was on probation for two weapons-related offenses and was under court order not to use or possess firearms.

Hubler’s father, James, had testified earlier in the day that he had “grounded” his son five days before the shooting after the boy’s mother discovered another weapon and ammunition in the house.

Alvarez testified that during her telephone conversation with Hubler, he fired the weapon twice.