Trial Ordered in Jamul Killings

Two men accused in the drug-related shooting deaths of Daniel and Mary Magoon in Jamul have been ordered to stand trial for killing the couple and attempting to murder their 3-year-old son.

Even though the case is supported solely by circumstantial evidence, Municipal Judge Michael B. Orfield on Tuesday ordered Jorge E. Alvarado, 39, of El Cajon and Jaime A. Hoyos, 34, of Tijuana to be tried for the May 26 murders.

According to evidence presented during a two-day preliminary hearing, a 9-millimeter handgun was found under the passenger seat of a car Alvarado was driving no more than an hour after the Magoons were killed.

The gun’s serial number matches the serial number found on a carton that was inside the Magoon residence, investigators testified.

The gun, however, was not used in the shootings.

Nick Crawford, a firearms investigator for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, testified that bullet casings found at the scene indicate that two other guns were used in the killings. Crawford did say that a bullet casing found in Alvarado’s pocket at the time of the arrest matches similar casings found at the murder scene.

El Cajon police found 28 pounds of marijuana, valued at $58,000, in the trunk of Alvarado’s 1981 Toyota. Additional evidence presented in the case shows that $1,033 in cash--mainly large bills--was found in Hoyos’ pockets after he was taken into custody.

After the killings, police found evidence of a busy marijuana trade operating out of the Magoon home, but no cash was recovered at the secluded house. Prosecutors believe the slayings were committed during the course of a robbery.