One of the three
men charged with murdering a transgender teenager says
he felt betrayed when he discovered the person he thought
was a fun, attractive girl was biologically male. "I
was crushed," Jose Merel testified Wednesday. "I
don't know--it just broke my heart to hear that."
Merel, along with Michael Magidson
and Jason Cazares, all 25, are charged with
first-degree murder in the death of Gwen Araujo, a
killing prosecutors say took place in October 2002
after the teenager's biological identity was revealed
in a showdown at Merel's house in Newark, a San
Francisco suburb. Araujo, 17, was born a boy named
Edward but grew up to believe her true identity was female.
The case was charged as a hate crime. The defendants
met Araujo in late summer 2002. According to earlier
testimony, suspicions about her gender arose after
Merel and Magidson, both of whom had had sexual encounters
with the teenager, compared notes.
A previous trial ended with a hung jury after a
defense attorney argued that the killing was
manslaughter committed in a passion provoked by sexual
deception, an argument that angered Araujo's family and
transgender rights advocates.
Merel did not testify at the first trial. But he
told jurors hearing this case that he was devastated
when Magidson told him that Araujo, whom they knew as
Lida, was biologically male. "Right after he told me
that, I threw up in the bushes," Merel said. "It disgusted
and it repulsed me." Merel was under cross-examination
all day Wednesday from prosecutor Chris Lamiero, who
was expected to continue his examination Thursday.
On Wednesday, Merel broke down in
tears when Lamiero pressed him on whether one of
his friends had acknowledged strangling Araujo. "I
want you to tell me, tell the jurors--did Mike tell
you how Lida died?" Lamiero said as Merel hung his
head, eyes averted from Magidson, who was sitting
just feet away at the defense table. "I can't answer
that," Merel said, wiping away his tears.
"Jose, Mike told you that he strangled Lida
with the rope in the garage, didn't he?" Lamiero insisted.
After Merel repeatedly refused to answer,
Alameda County superior court judge Harry Sheppard
adjourned the case for lunch, telling deputies to keep
Merel and Magidson apart. After the break, Merel answered
the question calmly, saying Magidson had said that "if
push came to shove," Merel should tell the police that
Magidson had strangled Araujo.
"You took it to mean he had done it, correct?"
Lamiero said.
"Yes," Merel said.
Previously, a fourth man at the house that
night, Jaron Nabors, had testified that Merel hit
Araujo with a can and a frying pan. Nabors said he saw
Magidson begin to pull a rope toward the teenager's neck but
did not see the strangulation, although he said he
later heard Magidson talk about twisting the rope. The
22-year-old Nabors, who led police to Araujo's body
buried in a shallow grave in the Sierra foothills,
initially was charged with murder but was allowed to plead
to manslaughter in exchange for testifying. The
defense attacked Nabors's credibility, noting he had
lied to police in the past.
Although they agree that Nabors lied, defense
attorneys have taken different approaches in their
cases. In opening statements, Magidson's attorney said
the case was a crime of passion and is not murder.
Cazares's attorney said his client wasn't involved in the
murder and helped only to bury the body out of loyalty
to his friends.
Merel's attorney said his client struck Araujo
only a glancing blow with the frying pan and did not
seriously injure the teenager, saying Merel genuinely
cared for Araujo. Despite Merel's strong reaction to the
revelation about Araujo, Lamiero pointed out that Merel
agreed with a suggestion from another woman at the
house that Araujo should leave. "You knew that the
better course of action was to get her out of that
house, correct?" Lamiero said.
"I wanted her out," Merel said.
"You knew that was the right thing to do?"
"Yes," said Merel. (AP)
