Decisions delayed in Temecula murder case

By: JOHN HALL - Staff Writer | Friday, January 12, 2007 10:26 PM PST ∞

FRENCH VALLEY ---- One of two men charged in the April 2005 murder of a Temecula liquor store clerk during a robbery admitted his involvement and implicated his co-defendant while talking to investigators, according to court testimony Friday.

That is one of the key statements the attorney for Dale Dante Thomas, 22, of Temecula is trying to have kept out of the preliminary hearing for his client and the co-defendant, 23-year-old Marcus Fletcher of San Diego.

Both men are charged with the April 1, 2005, murder of Rafi Ibrahim, a 34-year-old clerk at Rancho Liquor on Old Town Front Street.

Ibrahim was shot multiple times and court documents reveal authorities believe Fletcher was the one who pulled the trigger.

Defense attorney Jim Bender argued to Judge Judith Clark at Southwest Justice Center on Friday that Thomas invoked his Constitutional right to an attorney three times after his April 23, 2005 arrest.

"All of those (requests) were ignored," Bender said.

However, Deputy District Attorney Stephen Gallon contends Thomas was the one who reinitiated contact with homicide investigators.

"He put life back into that interview," the prosecutor said, by continuing to talk and asking them questions.

Clark told attorneys for both sides at the end of the court day Friday that she needs more time before ruling on the admissibility of Thomas' statements.

Saying she believes there are issues involving both the defendant's right to counsel and his right to remain silent, Clark said she wants to read the court cases provided to her by the attorneys in more detail and conduct additional research.

Clark said she would render her decision about the defense motion on Jan. 25.

The statement by Thomas that includes his admission of guilt and Fletcher's involvement came during an interview in San Bernardino prior to a polygraph examination he had agreed to take, according to Riverside County sheriff's Investigator Robert Joseph.

Joseph testified Thursday that Thomas denied any involvement by he or Fletcher during the interview at the Temecula Police Station.

After agreeing to take a polygraph, Joseph and Investigator Joe Pemberton drove Thomas to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department where the exam was to be done.

"On the way there, he continued to talk and apologized for lying," Joseph testified Friday.

Thomas told them then that he was driving past the liquor store, saw the guy who went inside, that he knew the guy but didn't want to get involved, Joseph said.

Then, during the interview with the man who would do the polygraph exam, Thomas changed his story again, this time admitting his involvement and that Fletcher was there too.

Thomas said he and Fletcher, as well as another person identified only by the initials "JL" or "LJ" planned the robbery of the liquor store, Joseph testified. "... there was not supposed to be anyone killed," he said Thomas told them.

Thomas told him that he dropped Fletcher off at the store, Fletcher went in and came back out, they met up later and he got about $400 as his share from the robbery, Joseph testified.

Prior to Joseph's testimony regarding the defense motion to suppress Thomas' statements, Clark heard testimony about the robbery and murder.

Senior District Attorney Martin Silva testified that he interviewed a man who walked in on the robbery.

Celestino Olea told him that he saw two men inside, one looking at him, one turned away from him, Silva said.

Olea said the man who was turned away turned toward him, raised a gun and fired a shot at him, missing, Silva said. Olea ran further inside the store and laid face down in one of the aisles.

"He said a few seconds later he heard at least three shots," Silva said. Then the other man he had seen came and laid down next to him with a brown paper bag in his hand, the investigator said. As it turned out, that man was the clerk, Ibrahim.

The gunman came over, said something similar to "you thought you were gonna get away," cursed and grabbed the bag out of the other man's hand and ran off, Silva said Olea told him.

In a lineup at Robert Presley Detention Center in May 2005, Olea was not able to identify Fletcher as the gunman ---- either visually or by voice when the five men in the lineup repeated prepared statements, Silva said.

Both Fletcher and Thomas also face murder charges in connection with the January 2005 killing of Kedran Howard in San Diego.

Because the Temecula crime happened during a robbery, Fletcher and Thomas could face the death penalty. A decision on whether to seek death will come sometime after the preliminary hearing, which is scheduled to continue Feb. 1.

Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.

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