Jealous Boyfriend Convicted of Attempted Murder in Slashing

In a verdict that could carry a life prison sentence, a jealous boyfriend was convicted Monday of attempted murder for slashing a man’s throat after his girlfriend falsely reported she was having an affair with him.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp will sentence Jose Hernandez on Nov. 15. The 25-year-old Van Nuys man was convicted of attempted murder, corporal injury to a spouse and assault with a deadly weapon.

Adriana Casillas, Hernandez’s longtime live-in girlfriend and main prosecution witness, testified that Hernandez accused her of having an affair and beat her almost daily for five years until she gave him the name of a co-worker at a department store.

Casillas not only lied when she told Hernandez that she was sleeping with Gustavo Mena, she also participated in the attack by luring Mena to a dark Van Nuys street on Nov. 29, 1992.

But jurors unanimously agreed that Casillas acted only in fear.

“She believed she would have been killed,” one juror said outside the courtroom. Other members of the panel said Casillas was naive in her mistaken belief that she could not flee the abusive relationship.

Testifying that she was forced to participate in the attack as a rite of purification for her supposed infidelity, Casillas said Hernandez forced her to lick Mena’s blood from his fingers.

In addition to convicting Hernandez of cutting Mena’s throat, the jury believed Casillas’ testimony that Hernandez struck her with a hammer during one beating and held a knife to her throat and demanded sex only hours after stabbing Mena.

Mena nearly died from the attack and was saved when a good Samaritan came to his assistance and summoned medical assistance. However, Mena did not testify at Hernandez’s trial. He may have fled to Mexico out of fear, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven J. Ipsen.

During closing arguments Friday, defense attorney Ronald Allen accused Casillas of fabricating the story to keep control of the couple’s daughter, who was two years old when Mena was ambushed. But the defense did not present any witnesses to substantiate that claim.