Thursday, March 31, 2011

Father Accused of Family Torture, Murder Appears in Court

      SAN BERNARDINO (KTLA) -- A 35-year-old father accused of killing his teenage son and torturing his wife and four other children appeared in San Bernardino Superior Court Wednesday morning.

      35-year-old Ian Roderiquez was in court to confirm the appointment of his lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Celia Torres.

      Prosecutors also got a protective order to keep Roderiquez from having any contact with his family. They say he faces up to six life sentences if convicted.

      Roderiquez is currently behind bars and being held without bail.

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      Meantime, gruesome new details have been released in the case.

      According to a police report, Roderiquez beat his wife and children repeatedly with a monkey wrench, forced them to walk on broken glass and threatened to set them on fire during the 11-hour ordeal.

      His eldest son, 16-year-old Richard was beaten so badly he died.

      The incident began at about 10 p.m. on March 22 at Roderiquez' home in the 6700 block Merito Avenue in the Del Rosa neighborhood of San Bernardino.

      According to police, Roderiquez accused his family of stealing his drugs and then proceeded to attack, beat and torture them for 11 hours.

      "He was a bad man to me," neighbor Jo Ann Castillo told KTLA. "I didn't like the way he looked, the way he treated his children, the way he spoke with them. He cursed at them. He denied them of things that we know children should have."

      Deputies responded to the home 9:15 a.m. Wednesday after receiving a 911 call from a neighbor reporting a man screaming for help inside the home.

      When deputies arrived, they found Richard laying on the garage floor, underneath a car seat, covered with blood.

      According to the report, Richard had numerous injuries including a possible broken lower leg, numerous cut and stab wounds all over his body and legs, blunt-force trauma to his left hand and multiple skull fractures.

      Roderiquez' four other children -- 13-year-old Jacob, 12-year-old Gabriel, 10-year-old Daniella and 8-year-old Yasmine were found inside the home.

      The children had all suffered blunt force trauma wounds and were taken to the hospital.

      The surviving children told detectives that their father had forced them to walk barefoot on broken glass. Daniella told them she refused to lay down in the glass, prompting her father to pour bleach on her and threaten to set her on fire.

      Roderiquez' wife, 35-year-old Sujal Roderiquez, suffered several stab wounds from a pair of scissors.

      Roderiquez was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, torture and child abuse, said Cindy Bachman, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

      According to neighbors, the father was yelling and cursing in the street earlier in the day.

      One neighbor said that he yelled at the kids frequently.

      "He was a drinker, so he would get in his moods... everybody knew him always yelling at the kids and stuff," Sofia Symeou told KTLA.

      Symeou also said the kids showed signs of desperation.

      "They would go around asking for food from the neighbors, or money, and whenever we gave them something it was like Christmas to them."

      Two of the surviving children are now in protective custody.

      Roderiquez pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, one count of attempted murder, four counts of torture, and four counts of child abuse.

      Any one wishing to help the family can do so by sending a donation to the Memorial Funds for Richard and Family account at 1st Valley Credit Union, 402 2nd Street, San Bernardino, CA 92401.

    Posted by Unknown at 6:25 AM