The attorney for a South Bay man accused of killing his boyfriend in Mexico told a federal jury Tuesday there was no physical evidence, such as DNA, blood, fingerprints, or footprints linking him to the crime.
However, David Enrique Meza, 26, was not suspected in the May 2, 2015, slaying of Jake Merendino, 52, until a month later and a search of his apartment and belongings produced no trace evidence.
Attorney Reuben Cahn told the eight woman, four man jury it would have been very difficult for Meza to drag the 310-pound body of Merendino to a ravine off a highway near Rosarito. Merendino was 6’4” tall.
Meza’s wife, Taylor Langston, 22, has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in providing a false alibi for Meza. She was in Mexico that night but was believed to be in a different location.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Foster played a portion of a cell phone call Meza placed to Langston in which he said he felt terrible and remorseful after doing something bad, but he didn’t specify what it was he did.
Foster described Meza with living “a double life” in which he was gay with Merendino and straight with Langston, with whom he was engaged at the time. She quoted Meza as saying Merendino was his “sugar daddy.”
The trial before U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Miller is expected to last three weeks. Meza remains in the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center without bail and has pleaded not guilty.
Merendino and Meza were staying at Bobby’s By the Sea hotel in Mexico on May 1, 2015. Merendino got a call from someone who was stuck on a road and he left at 1 a.m. May 2 to help him, according to a hotel employee.
Merendino drove there in his Range Rover SUV, and it is alleged Meza stabbed him 22 times including slashing his throat. Jurors saw photos of bloodstains on the SUV and the heavy blood trail in which the body was dragged about 20 feet and dumped in the ravine.
Jurors also saw the 1-page handwritten will that says “I leave everything to David Meza” that was written on stationary from the Hercor Hotel in Chula Vista where the two stayed in 2014.
“His feelings of remorse don’t stop him from trying to collect Jake’s money,” said Foster, who noted that Meza submitted the will to a Texas probate court.
Merendino had previously drawn up a will in 1998 with an attorney in Texas. Foster said Meza wanted Merendino’s condominium, and in order to get it, “Jake has to die.”
The reason the jurisdiction is federal is because Meza is charged with killing a U.S. citizen in Mexico. He is also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice which happened in San Diego.
