OXNARD : Police to Free Man Arrested in Slaying

A 67-year-old Oxnard man arrested last week on suspicion of murder will be released because investigators could not persuade prosecutors that the case was a murder, a deputy district attorney said Tuesday.

Rosario Valenzuela, who was arrested Aug. 31 by Oxnard police in Port Hueneme, was accused of killing Jose Daniel Garduno Acosta, a 46-year-old street musician who died Aug. 30 from a stab wound to the heart.

“We are not going to press charges at this time because there simply has not been enough evidence presented to us to suggest that it’s anything other than self-defense,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael K. Frawley.

“If the detectives at the Oxnard Police Department can come up with more information in the future, we will certainly review it again and consider charges,” Frawley said.

Acosta was an accordion player who came to Oxnard just three months ago to earn money for his wife and five children back in Mexico, officials said.

The victim was a casual acquaintance of Valenzuela, who lived in the same Oxnard apartment complex, according to police. Witnesses told police that Acosta and another man were arguing before Acosta was stabbed.

Valenzuela had not yet been released from Ventura County Jail by late afternoon Tuesday, a jail official said.