FRENCH VALLEY - Saying the evidence against the Mead Valley man was "substantial," a judge Wednesday ordered Fabian Cayetano Urrea to stand trial for the 2005 killing in Murrieta of an Army National Guardsman on leave from Iraq.

Urrea, 22, faces one count of first-degree murder for the June 9, 2005, shooting death of 24-year-old Jorge Estrada, who was on emergency leave to be at his wife's side for the birth of her first daughter, Liliana, just three days earlier.

Urrea is the girl's biological father, but Estrada married the baby's mother and was going to raise the child as his own. The prosecution says it was an argument about the newborn that led to the shooting.

The slaying happened in the parking lot of a Murrieta apartment complex where the Estradas were living with the wife's parents. Diana Estrada and her husband had agreed to allow Urrea to stop by that morning to see his newborn daughter.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer listened to testimony Monday and Wednesday at Southwest Justice Center before announcing his ruling at the conclusion of the preliminary hearing.

Urrea's attorney, Michael LaCilento, argued that the prosecution's case was based entirely on the testimony of Estrada's wife, Diana, who witnessed the shooting, and that she was not a credible witness.

The defense attorney also told the judge that, if anything, the crime was committed in the heat of passion and asked Freer to hold Urrea over for trial on a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Freer denied that request and told LaCilento that he found Diana Estrada's testimony Monday to be credible, adding that there was substantial evidence even without her statements to show the crime was premeditated.

"He drove to the victim's residence armed, presumably to see the baby for the first time," Freer said of Urrea's actions that morning.

The judge added that three shots were fired at Estrada at close range, there was no evidence of this being self-defense, nor was there any evidence that Estrada did anything aggressive toward Urrea before the shooting.

Freer also said that Urrea's actions after the shooting showed "a consciousness of guilt" when he drove from the scene. Urrea was later driven to the Mexican border by a family member and captured in January of this year working at a motorcycle shop in the state of Sinaloa.

Regarding the defense attorney's contention that Diana Estrada was not a credible witness, the judge countered that he believes she painted "a clear portrait" of what happened and that her testimony is mostly consistent with the physical evidence at the crime scene.

During her testimony, Diana Estrada told the judge that Urrea raped her in his parents' home in September 2004, leading to her pregnancy and the subsequent birth of Liliana.

Based primarily on Diana Estrada's testimony, Deputy District Attorney Charles Lockwood told Freer that Urrea "became enraged about who was going to be in the baby's life" and then shot Jorge Estrada.

Diana Estrada testified that her husband was shot three times by Urrea.

Murrieta police Detective Jeff Ullrich testified Wednesday that two empty shell casings for 9mm bullets were found at the shooting scene and a third casing of the same caliber was located days later in the bed of Urrea's pickup, which was found parked on a Hemet street.

During Ullrich's testimony, Urrea's attorney appeared confused by the number of shots fired and the number of bullets, as opposed to empty shell casings, that were found.

LaCilento repeatedly questioned the detective about a bullet that was brought to police two days after the killing by a woman who found it at the apartment complex. The defense attorney seemed to believe that showed a fourth shot had been fired.

Ultimately, Ullrich was able to explain that there were only three bullets, therefore matching the number of empty casings found. One bullet was recovered at the crime scene, one was found in Estrada's body during his autopsy and the third was the one found and brought to police by the woman on June 11, 2005, he said.

Ullrich also told the judge that Urrea's sister, Patricia, told police that her brother told her the morning Estrada was killed, "I shot that fool."

The only witness called by the defense was Diana Estrada's mother, Maria Herrera. Urrea's attorney said he called her to impeach some of her daughter's previous testimony. LaCilento asked Herrera her opinion about her daughter's reputation about telling the truth.

"That she's a liar," Herrera replied.

While Diana Estrada admitted meeting with Urrea for sex five times after he allegedly raped her, as well as after she married Jorge and he was deployed in January 2005, she also said she changed her cell phone number several times because she wanted Urrea to stop contacting her.

However, her mother told the judge her daughter and Urrea talked on the phone almost every day "mainly about the baby," and that she always ended up calling him even after changing her number.

LaCilento asked Herrera why she thought her daughter would again contact Urrea.

"Probably because she loved him," she answered.

Urrea will return to court later this month to begin the process leading up to his trial. If convicted as charged, he faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.

He remains in custody, held without the possibility of bail.

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