Jurors hear about Gypsy culture in death penalty trial

By: JOHN HALL - Staff Writer
Testimony comes from Tony Yonko's brother and an expert in the Gypsy history and lifestyle | Friday, January 18, 2008 11:25 PM PST ∞

FRENCH VALLEY -- Jurors deciding the fate of a Lake Elsinore man convicted of murder and now facing the death penalty heard testimony about his Gypsy culture Friday as the defense continues to try to convince the panel to spare their client's life.

The seven-woman, five-man jury first heard from one of the younger brothers of Tony Ricky Yonko who recounted what life was like for him and his 13 siblings as their family traveled for years with carnivals, following in trailers as it went from place to place. Their father often repaired carnival rides while their mother was a fortune teller, 40-year-old Teddy Yonko told jurors.

The afternoon testimony came from a professor of anthropology at UC Riverside who has studied Gypsy culture for some 40 years, taking more than two years to make her way inside the nomadic, secretive lifestyle of a large Gypsy community in the Bay Area.

Anne Sutherland, a cultural anthropologist, said she made two films in the 1970s for the BBC about Gypsies in California and authored the book "Gypsies, The Hidden Americans," which she said is still in print.

Sutherland gave a mini-course of sorts to jurors about the history and inner workings of Gypsies, ranging from their origins in Northern India 1,000 years ago to practices that continue today, including arranged marriages, rarely attending public schools and a propensity to steal from non-Gypsies to make ends meet.

Tony Yonko, 45, was convicted last month at Southwest Justice Center of the Oct. 22, 2002, first-degree murder of 41-year-old Paul Dinh Ngo, 41, who was brutally beaten to death in his Lake Elsinore home. Ngo's body was found by two of his young sons when they came home after their father didn't pick them up from school.

Because the jury determined that the murder happened during a robbery or a burglary, Yonko is eligible for the death penalty.

Now, in a second phase of the trial, jurors are listening to testimony about Yonko's background -- good and bad -- after which they will decide if he should be put to death or go to prison for life with no chance for parole.

Defense attorney Elaine Johnson asked Teddy Yonko to explain to jurors the Gypsy culture's view of violence.

"It's forbidden for us to do something like that," he said. "You can do more with your tongue."

Johnson also asked what he thought about his brother being convicted of a violent murder.

"I feel truly in my heart it's just not in my brother to do something like that," Teddy Yonko said.

Teddy Yonko described for jurors how he and his brothers and sisters were used as young as age 5 in scams to steal valuables from non-Gypsies, as well as one particular burglary he and Tony committed in 1996, stealing from a 90-year-old woman.

Both men were convicted of that crime. Teddy Yonko is still serving time in state prison and was brought to Riverside County to testify.

After Teddy Yonko admitted to Deputy District Attorney Stephen Gallon that he didn't his brother want to get in trouble, the prosecutor asked him if he would lie to help him.

"Lying, I'm done with that. Like they say, the truth will set you free," Teddy Yonko answered. "I'm here to tell the truth about my family and my brother."

Sutherland testified as an expert witness for the defense after reviewing police reports and court transcripts as well as interviewing several members of the Yonko family, including Tony Yonko.

She said Gypsies have their own marriage ceremonies and do not recognize America's marriage laws or much of the American culture.

Tony Yonko had three arranged marriages, the first at age 15 when he wed a 14-year-old girl after his parents paid the girl's family $7,000, Sutherland said. Later however, "her parents took her back and had to pay back some of the money," she said.

His second marriage came when he was 18 and the arrangement was for about $5,000 for a woman about 40 years old, Sutherland said. That marriage lasted a month, she said.

His third marriage, at 25, was to his current wife who was about 17 or 18 at the time, Sutherland said. She did not know what the dowry was for that arranged marriage.

Johnson asked Sutherland several questions about the Gypsy view of violence.

Sutherland said that, before the Yonko case, she "had never come across any murder case" or any violence during a burglary. She added, however, that she is starting to see more Gypsy-related crimes that are leading to violence.

She told jurors that Gypsies have a "moral boundary" that allows them to steal from or scam non-Gypsies, but not other Gypsies.

When asked by the prosecutor if it was OK for Gypsies to murder non-Gypsies, Sutherland replied, "I don't think murder's ever OK."

Further witnesses called by the defense are scheduled to testify when the trial resumes before Judge Judith Clark on Tuesday morning. This portion of the trial is expected to continue through the end of the month.

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