Father Found Guilty of 1st-Degree Murder in Deaths of 2 Children

A San Fernando jury convicted Marco Barrera on two counts of first-degree murder Tuesday in the beating deaths of his 2-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, and will decide next week whether he should be executed.

Barrera, 38, of Pacoima, faces the death penalty because the jury found he committed multiple murders and had tortured Ernesto Esquivel and Guadalupe “Lupita” Esquivel, whose bodies were found buried in Angeles National Forest in 1998.

The jury deliberated six hours before convicting Barrera on all eight counts, including that he had abused the children for months before their deaths.

The same jury convicted the children’s aunt, Maria Ricardo, 31, on two counts of child abuse but acquitted her on a separate charge of accessory to murder. She will be sentenced next month. Her defense lawyer, Larry Baker, said he will appeal.

The penalty phase of Barrera’s case begins Monday. Jurors will be asked to recommend that Barrera be sentenced to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. He will be sentenced by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen.

As the verdicts were read, Barrera showed no sign of emotion, staring straight ahead as he has done throughout the two-week trial.

Afterward, his attorney, public defender Arthur Braudrick, said he had expected the convictions. During the trial, Braudrick did not offer a defense but had asked the jury to convict Barrera of second-degree murder, in an attempt to save his client’s life.

During the penalty phase, Braudrick said, he will call as witnesses Barrera’s mother, father, aunt and uncle, who live in rural Mexico. Braudrick said he also will call an expert to testify about “the difficulty of a Mexican male coping with the problems of trying to support all of these children.”

Barrera fathered eight children, including Ernesto and Lupita, with his wife, Petra Ricardo, 39, and six more with Maria Ricardo, her sister.

Most of the 14 children, including the victims, lived with Barrera and Maria Ricardo in a converted garage in Pacoima.

Last August, Petra Ricardo pleaded no contest to child endangerment. As part of a plea bargain, she is expected to be sentenced to four years in prison in exchange for testifying against her husband and sister.

Maria Ricardo faces up to 12 years in prison. She had been in jail for more than three years awaiting trial.

Baker had urged jurors to acquit Maria Ricardo on all charges, alleging that she was battered by Barrera and incapable of protecting the children. He said Barrera kidnapped Ricardo when she was 14 and brought her to the United States against her will.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolyn McNary argued that Ricardo should have gone to authorities to stop the physical abuse that led to the deaths of Ernesto and Lupita.

During the trial, Barrera’s 12-year-old daughter, Maria, testified that Barrera beat Lupita to death because she wet the bed. She said Barrera hit Lupita and threw her into the wall with such force that Maria heard a crack and saw the girl’s head drop.

Lupita died of a fractured skull and had several other injuries, according to an autopsy.

Barrera’s 17-year-old son, Jose, also testified that Barrera killed Lupita, then tried to force the youth to take the blame. Jose said Barrera threatened to kill him if he did not cover up his father’s role in Lupita’s death.

After Lupita died, Barrera turned his fury on Ernesto, the boy’s sister testified.

“He used to hit him so hard . . . [with] a belt, leather shoes, whatever he could find,” Maria said.

The autopsy report takes 2 1/2 pages to describe the bruises, scars, abrasions and ulcers on Ernesto’s body. Thirteen ribs had been broken and the boy had several arm and leg fractures.

A sheriff’s deputy found Ernesto’s body in March 1998 when he stopped to investigate what he thought was an abandoned car on Lopez Canyon Road, about two miles north of the Foothill Freeway.

He noticed Barrera and one of his teenage sons walking in the brush and followed them to a shallow grave, where the deputy found Ernesto’s body.

Three weeks later, a sibling led authorities to Lupita’s body, which had been doused with acid and buried near Little Tujunga Canyon Road a few months earlier.