Rios murder trial
enters second day

Steven Rios wept Wednesday as a good friend and colleague testified at the first-degree murder trial of the former Columbia, Mo., police officer. Rios is charged in the death of 23-year-old Jesse Valencia, the gay college student whose body was discovered June 5 with a slashed throat in a neighbor's yard in Columbia's East Campus neighborhood. Rios, 28 and married, engaged in a sexual affair with Valencia soon after he arrested him last spring for interfering in a loud-party complaint. Rios was not scheduled to work June 5, but special prosecutor Morley Swingle told jurors that computer records show the suspect visited a police substation that day to review the dispatching system's computer screen, which showed the activities of on-duty officers. Rios then went to the main police station and told two sergeants he could make a positive identification of Valencia. Sgt. Ken Smith testified that he drove Rios to the murder scene and that Rios was soon assigned to security work by Officer Shelley Jones, who was stationed outside Valencia's basement apartment with orders to make sure no one entered or left the building. Rios wept today as Officer James Means described talking to him on the evening of June 5. "Based on what I know of Steve, there was something wrong," Means said, referring to his colleague's demeanor. "I said, 'Hey, how's it going?' and he didn't say a thing. I said, 'What's wrong?' He said, 'Nothing. I'm just tired.' That's basically the only answer I got." Means and Rios locked eyes for several seconds after Swingle and public defender Valerie Leftwich questioned the witness, and Rios wore a pained expression as he wiped his eyes. Until then, Rios had appeared calm in the courtroom, and he occasionally smiled at and spoke to supporters in the audience during trial breaks. By 10 a.m., 18 prosecution witnesses had testified, including Valencia's former boyfriend Jack Barry. Barry, a University of Missouri-Columbia senior, talked about the victim's personality and personal beliefs. They met in September 2002 in the parking lot of a bar and dated off and on until about mid April 2004, he said. Barry said they remained close friends despite the breakup. On the night before the slaying, the two spoke on the phone about other young men they'd recently started to see romantically. Valencia's romantic interest was Ed McDevitt, whom he'd met the night before at the SoCo Club, a gay dance bar off Nifong Boulevard. Barry told jurors he went to bed about 1:45 a.m. His phone rang seven times shortly after 3:15 a.m., and he heard a knock at his apartment door. From looking at his cell phone, he knew Valencia was calling and was also likely knocking on his door at the same time. Barry said he didn't answer and went back to sleep. The last call came at 3:18 a.m. "Did he leave a message?" Leftwich asked. "No. I wish he did," Barry testified. Barry also described and demonstrated a fingernail manicure kit he'd seen Valencia use on occasion. Barry said it filed fingernails down rather than cleaning underneath them. He also testified about Valencia's bathing and laundry habits, saying Valencia showered about every other day and washed his hands and face daily. Other witnesses testifying Wednesday included several DNA lab criminalists who tested clothing taken from Rios's home and hairs and nail clippings from the victim's body. Rios's DNA was found under the right-hand fingernails of Valencia and three hairs found on the victim's torso were determined as belonging to Rios. However, the dark Eddie Bauer shirt, pants, and a hat taken from Rios's home all tested negative for Valencia's DNA. These items were described by other officers as similar to the clothes he wore on the morning of June 5 when he left the police department parking garage. Officer Jim Harmon testified that he was among the investigators who searched Valencia's apartment. He described the residence as extremely untidy, with half-empty soda bottles and piles of dirty clothes on the floor. He gathered a used condom from the bedroom floor, a camera and its exposed film, and a party invitation for June 4. Laura Fiske, a coworker of Valencia's at the Campus Inn, told the jury she'd seen a Ford Explorer pick him up from the motel after one of his shifts. Rios owns a Ford Explorer. Valencia's best friend, Joan Sheridan, testified that Rios came to Valencia's apartment in the early morning hours of May 8 of last year. Valencia was not home at the time, and Sheridan answered the door to find the officer in plainclothes asking to talk to Valencia. She recognized Rios as an officer because she had seen him a few hours earlier at a nearby party to which he had responded to a noise complaint. Sheridan said Rios asked her name and why she was there. She explained that she was staying overnight rather than drive home intoxicated. Later that month Valencia told Sheridan he was upset about a ticket he had received on April 18, adding that he had a secret the police department might be interested in hearing, Sheridan said. Her last conversation with Valencia about the affair was June 2, during a walk home from another party. Sheridan was going to spend the night again but hesitated when Valencia told her that the officer might stop by. "He said, 'No, come over. I just won't answer the door.'" The conversation turned serious, Sheridan told jurors. "He said, 'I'm really going to ask him this time if he's married or not, because I really don't want to be involved in a relationship with a married man.'" Sheridan said she told police about Valencia and the affair on June 8. However, Leftwich asked why it wasn't until her next interview, on June 12, that a police report indicated she mentioned the affair. Sheridan said the first officers she spoke to didn't write it down. Andy Schermerhorn testified about having sex with Valencia on May 14. They were interrupted when Rios showed up at the basement apartment in uniform and shining a flashlight in the dark. At first, Rios said he simply wanted to watch, Shermerhorn said, but the officer quickly joined in to have sex with Valencia while Schermerhorn watched and caressed them both. After finishing, Rios told Schermerhorn the encounter had to remain a secret, Schermerhorn testified. Schermerhorn and friends Tamar Solomon and Ellen Dapra testified about "staking out" the Campus Inn to see if Valencia was honest when he told them that the officer who'd arrested him earlier that morning would pick him up from work. They drove around the motel lot to spy on him but lost sight of Valencia about 11:10 p.m. They drove to Dapra's home on Wilson Avenue but soon decided to return to the motel. On the return trip, they saw Valencia and a man matching Rios's description get out of a dark blue or black Ford Explorer at 1414 Wilson Avenue and walk around the back of the apartment house to Valencia's home. None, however, saw the other man's face. The police department's computer systems analyst, Richard Jenkins, explained to jurors two enlarged computer screen snapshots that displayed information Rios might have accessed about the death investigation launched after Valencia's body was discovered. Sgt. Stephen Monticelli, who supervises the department's Major Crimes Unit, testified that Rios came to his office June 8 to talk about a CrimeStoppers tip he'd heard while on a float trip with colleagues that indicated Valencia had had an affair with a married officer and that Rios thought the tip was about him. Rios quickly agreed to be interviewed by Detective John Short, Monticelli said. Both Short and Monticelli testified that Rios initially denied knowing Valencia beyond an official capacity in the April 18 arrest. But when told that witnesses had seen him at the apartment and that one had seen him having sex with the victim, Rios confessed in "bits and pieces" of the affair, Monticelli said. The suspect told them he wanted to tell someone about the relationship on the day the body was found but decided not to after hearing officers at the crime scene describe Valencia's sexual orientation in "brutal" terms. In all, Rios was interviewed three times that day about inconsistencies in his versions of the affair and about where he went after he got off work June 5 at 3 a.m. Ultimately, Rios confessed to the affair, but police still couldn't arrest him for the crime, and he was allowed to leave. On June 10, Rios and his wife, Libby Rios, came to the police station to talk to Monticelli, the sergeant testified. Rios was upset that the department had confirmed to the media that Valencia had had a relationship with an officer. Rios said he wanted to leave town to visit his father in Alexandria, Va., Monticelli said, and without enough evidence for an arrest, police could not detain him. Monticelli said Libby Rios asked him, "Will this be the end?" "I told her this was all about Steve and this relationship and that if he'd have been honest...we wouldn't be doing what we were doing," Monticelli said. "She appeared shocked." Monticelli testified that Rios indicated previously that he would tell his wife about the affair but that based on Libby Rios's reaction, he suspected that didn't happen. Later that evening Rios phoned Monticelli to say he'd missed his flight and had purchased a shotgun and ammunition. He threatened suicide while talking to Short. Eventually the defendant was tracked back to his in-laws' home in Columbia and caught as he emerged from the bushes, Monticelli said. Testimony continues Thursday and could last through the week because Swingle has called only about half of 60 witnesses certified for trial. (Mike Wells, Advocate/Sirius OutQ News)