Jury deliberations continued this week in the federal murder trial of David Enrique Meza who is accused of killing his wealthy boyfriend Jake Clyde Merendino in Mexico in 2015 so he could inherit his estate.
The eight woman four man jury began deliberations Monday at 2:26 p.m. after hearing closing arguments. They had a legal question answered Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Miller before resuming their discussions Wednesday.
Meza, 26, is also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection with the May 2, 2015 stabbing of Merendino, 52, who was attacked as he got out of his car off a dark road near Rosarito, Mexico, around 2 a.m.
The jurors saw gruesome photos of Merendino, whose throat was slashed twice with 22 stab wounds inflicted in the chest and back.
The killer dragged his 310-pound body 33 feet into a ravine, something Meza’s attorney, Richard Deke Falls, said Meza could not do by himself. Falls also said there must have been two people stabbing Merendino.
There was a heavy blood trail from where Merendino was attacked to the ravine, though it might not have been visible to the killer.
There is no DNA, bloody clothing, footprints or fingerprints of Meza associated with the scene, Falls argued, and urged jurors to acquit him.
Merendino was 6’4″ tall and had a heart condition that limited a lot of walking. He engaged in sex with Meza “when he’s up to it,” according to Meza’s statement with a detective.
After his death, Meza mailed a handwritten will to the probate court in Texas, where Merendino lived. Jurors saw the handwritten one-page will in which someone scrawled “I leave everything to David E. Meza” and someone signed Merendino’s name.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Ciaffa said Meza changed clothes somewhere before he crossed the U.S. border on his red motorcycle that Merendino had given him for Christmas in 2014 which cost $11,665. Border cameras show he wore different clothes entering the U.S. than when he went into Mexico.
Meza’s cell phone confirms he was within 100 yards of the murder site at the time, Ciaffa said, according to pings from Global Positioning Service records.
The jury will not have to decide whether it is first or second-degree murder because the charge is murder of a U.S. citizen in a foreign country. The jurisdiction is federal because the conspiracy occurred in San Diego with Meza and his girlfriend, Taylor Langston, 22.
Langston, who is now Meza’s wife and has a baby, has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in creating a phony alibi for Meza at the time of the murder. She was not charged with participating in the murder and remains free on $50,000 bond.
Merendino did not know Meza had a girlfriend and jurors were read numerous emails from the victim that described him as “a real sweetie” and “an absolute doll.”
“He was gay for pay. He sent Jake naked pictures to keep Jake interested,” said Ciaffa, who described Merendino as Meza’s “sugar daddy.”
Ciaffa said Merendino signed a document that listed Meza as the beneficiary of a Rosarito condo worth $273,000. It became official April 30, and Merendino was killed two days later.
“I really hate this guy. I hate him so much,” wrote Meza in email to his girlfriend which was read to the jury.
Meza has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail without bail. If he is convicted, he faces a life sentence in federal prison.
