Jury finds San Diego man guilty of murdering boyfriend in Mexico

A federal jury on Tuesday found a San Diego man guilty of planning and carrying out the murder of his wealthy Texas boyfriend in Mexico, a crime that prosecutors called personal, brutal and vicious.

David Enrique Meza, 26, lured Jake Clyde Merendino, 51, to the side of the road near Rosarito in the early morning hours of May 2, 2015, and stabbed him 24 times, according to evidence presented at trial. The victim was then dragged to a cliff and dumped over the edge.

Meza was after Merendino’s money, prosecutors said. With his death, Meza stood to inherit the Texan’s $3-million estate plus the $273,000 oceanfront condominium Merendino had just closed on the day before near Rosarito.

Jurors reached the verdict — guilty of foreign murder of a U.S. national and conspiracy to obstruct justice — after a week of deliberation.

The two men met in 2013 after Meza, a body-builder who said in a video that he was straight but did “gay things” for money, posted an online ad. Merendino answered the ad, paying Meza $100 to visit his Pacific Beach hotel, Asst. U.S. Atty. Robert Ciaffa said in his closing arguments.

In their two years of dating, Merendino gave Meza a sports car worth $45,000, some $20,000 in cash and other perks, prosecutors said.

“I used him; I took advantage of him,” Meza said in an interview with a San Diego police detective.

But Meza led another life. He explained away his newfound flashiness to friends and family by saying he was an accountant helping rich clients like Merendinodo.

“For two years he created lives in two separate worlds. Both were based on lies and deceit,” Ciaffa said.

Those worlds were beginning to collide, Ciaffa said, with Meza and his girlfriend expecting a baby in June 2015 and Merendino moving to Rosarito — hoping Meza would join him.

The day the condo purchased closed, Meza and Merendino checked into a Mexico resort and celebrated. Meza left for the U.S. on his motorcycle late that night, but called Merendino about 1 a.m., saying his bike had broken down on the side of the highway.

Merendino left, telling a hotel security guard where he was going.

About 3 a.m., Merendino’s body was found off the cliff. By then, Meza was heading back into the U.S. Taylor Langston, by then his fiancee, had entered Mexico in a separate car and crossed back into the U.S. as well, according to authorities.

Meza at first lied about being in Mexico when the killing occurred, but then said he had lured his boyfriend to a spot near the murder scene with the intent to steal his stereo equipment. Meza said he doesn’t know why he didn’t follow through with it. He said he left on his bike.

Defense attorneys theorized that someone saw Merendino at the side of the road alone, forced him to drive up the road a bit, and then killed him and robbed him. A Mexican crime scene technician testified it appeared two sets of footprints were found at the scene.

No physical evidence linked Meza to the crime scene.

Eleven days after the killing, Meza mailed a handwritten will dated in December 2014 that appeared to leave him Merendino’s estate. Meza drained Merendino’s bank account, prosecutors said.

Langston, who was charged as an accomplice, pleaded guilty in February to obstruction of justice.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune