Trial continues for South Toledo man accused of lying to police in murder investigation
Jul. 1—Nearly a year after a South Toledo man told investigators that his father killed a local restaurateur, he recanted his statements to police, claiming he was under duress at the time.
Bryan Morales-Rivero, 24, is accused of lying to police about his father's role in shooting and stabbing Emilia Silguero-Guerrero, 36, owner of Taqueria La Autentica Mihoacana. Her boyfriend, Lorenzo Morales, 44, is charged with the violent killing on Aug. 16, 2019.
"Emilia was shot one time in the back, which likely killed her or would have killed her. She was stabbed 18 times, perimortem, which is at or very near death," the lead investigator, Toledo police Detective Matthew Kozlacker, said on Wednesday. "She was actually stabbed in the back of the head multiple times and actually turned over and stabbed multiple times in the chest."
A Lucas County jury is considering Mr. Morales Rivero's charge of obstructing justice after he told differing versions how he found Ms. Silguero-Guerrero dead on the floor of their home in the 200 block of Field Avenue.
Jurors watched two lengthy police interviews with him on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday, prosecutors began playing a third interview with the defendant from March 22, 2021, where he wished to recant his statements because he claims he was under duress at the time of an April, 2020, interview.
Detectives first interviewed Mr. Morales-Rivero on Aug. 16, 2019. A Spanish-speaking officer, Irma Oberneder, sat in on the interview in order to translate between him and detectives. She testified on Tuesday about her conversation with Mr. Morales-Rivero, though she admitted she was not a certified interpreter and she did not interpret each word verbatim.
Mr. Morales left for work at an Airport Highway supermarket, arriving around 8 a.m. Mr. Morales-Rivero said he left after 8 a.m. for work at Taqueria La Autentica Mihoacana, a restaurant at 1218 Broadway St. that the couple co-owned. His stepmother was alive at that time, he claimed.
He returned home that afternoon at the request of his father. That's when he said he found her body, he told investigators.
Mr. Morales-Rivero denied knowledge of what happened, but he said his father wasn't known to be violent. However, Ms. Silguero-Guerreo's sister testified this week that the victim was making plans to leave the abusive relationship.
Additionally, Mr. Morales-Rivero voiced his suspicions of a neighbor who was always asking the family for money, he said in the interview. There was no sign of a break-in and Ms. Silguero-Guerrero had nearly $3,000 untouched in her purse, Detective Kozlacker testified on Wednesday.
Months after reviewing the evidence, no one had been charged with the woman's death. Detectives asked the father and son for a second interview on April 29, 2020, and they agreed.
"From the beginning, they were not coerced, they were not under arrest — it was clearly stated to them and they did not have to cooperate with us," former Detective Martin Rocha, who speaks Spanish, testified on Wednesday.
Investigators asked Mr. Morales-Rivero to tell his story again — noting that the evidence was pointing to him since he was the last person to see Ms. Silguero-Guerrero alive and the time of her death was estimated to be prior to 8 a.m., Detective Kozlacker said.
Additionally, surveillance footage showed the father arrived at work that morning and he didn't leave until receiving the news about his girlfriend's death.
Mr. Morales-Rivero told investigators in April, 2020, that the couple was arguing that morning. He went out to his vehicle and by the time he returned, his father had shot and stabbed her, according to the interview.
When asked, detectives said he could face a lengthy sentence in prison and potentially be deported to Mexico, where he was born, according to the interview.
Additional testimony is expected on Thursday.
First Published June 30, 2021, 5:50pm
