May 9—WILKES-BARRE — A man who state police at Hazleton said was killed and dismembered in 2015 was a confidential human source for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a special agent testified Tuesday during the Luzerne County jury trial of homicide suspect Roberto Torner.

Torner, 50, is on trial before Judge David W. Lupas for his alleged role in the shooting death of Jose Herran, 56, sometime between Oct. 13, 2015 and Nov. 17, 2015, in Foster Township.

While a motive to Herran's murder has not been mentioned, the testimony of FBI Special Agent Thomas D'Amico from the New York Field Office suggest he was killed for providing information about the trafficking of narcotics and firearms in the Philadelphia region.

Deputy District Attorney Daniel E. Zola and Assistant District Attorney Drew McLaughlin spent most of the time during Torner's first day of trial proving Herran has not been seen since the middle of October 2015. While his body has never been found, Zola and McLaughlin, based on the investigation by state police at Hazleton, allege he was killed and "chopped up" inside a house trailer Torner owned on North Buck Mountain Road.

State police Corporal Jesse Bachman, a criminal unit supervisor at the Stroudsburg barracks, said he was a member of the Forensic Services Unit that processed the North Buck Mountain Road property in May 2018.

Based on information, Bachman said three burn pits were thoroughly searched including a bedroom inside the house trailer.

Bachman said information gathered during the investigation indicated Herran was shot and his body dismembered in the bedroom.

When Bachman removed the carpet, the sub floor showed signs it had been "haphazardly painted." The sub floor was removed and tested positive for the presence of blood, Bachman testified.

Retired state police Corporal and county detective Shawn Williams, who investigated Herran's disappearance, said Herran is still considered a missing person but the case is considered a homicide. As recently as Tuesday morning, Williams said there has been no activity on Herran's social media accounts since June 2015.

Herran's mother, Virginia Rodriguez, of West New York, N.J., was the first witness to testify for Zola and McLaughlin.

Rodriguez said she last spoke to her son on Nov. 13 or Nov. 14, 2015, but Torner's attorney, Robert A. Saurman, said Herran's cellular phone records do not register an inbound or outbound call after Oct. 21, 2015.

Saurman suggested Herran wanted to disappear and possibly returned to his native country of Cuba.

During his opening statement to the jury, Saurman said they will hear different stories he described as "bizarre" from a number of witnesses.

"This is a case where truth is stronger than fiction. You can't make this up," Saurman said.

Saurman hypothetically asked the jury if Herran's body was dismembered and destroyed, why would Torner clean and hide cutting tools and two firearms.

"He's either a criminal mastermind or a moron," Saurman said of Torner.

State police allege Herran was driven to the house trailer by Torner and fatally shot and dismembered by co-conspirator David Alzugaray, 54.

Alzugaray is expected to testify during Torner's trial.

Torner is on trial facing an open count of criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy to commit homicide and criminal solicitation to commit homicide.

Alzugaray's trial on similar charges including abuse of corpse is scheduled for July.

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