A Harris County Resident is Scheduled for Execution This Week

AUSTIN – A Harris County resident, Bernardo Aban Tercero, is scheduled for execution after 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, pursuant to a court order by the 232^nd District Court, said a press release from The Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton’s office.

A Harris County jury found Tercero guilty of murdering a man by the name of Robert Berger during an aggravated robbery in October 2000.

According to the facts of the case, Berger, on March 31, 1997, and his young daughter entered a Park Avenue Cleaners near closing time, and at about the same time, an employee, Ricardo Toruno, unlocked the back door of the cleaners to take the trash out to the dumpster. As Toruno made his way back inside, one of Tercero’s accomplices put a gun to Toruno’s head and accompanied him through the door. Tercero then entered the cleaners and proceeded to the front of the store where the manager, Michelle Johnson, testified that Tercero said something to Berger, but the man did not respond. Tercero then grabbed Berger by the arm and pushed him back. Berger attempted to get away from Tercero, but the gunman shot him in the back of the head, and he fell to the ground. During this exchange, one of the robbers with Tercero demanded money. Afterward, Tercero and his accomplice fled the cleaners through the back door with a cash drawer each in hand.

The press release stated that during his testimony, Tercero said he robbed the cleaner because he and his live-in girlfriend, Marisol Lima, were having economic difficulties. Lima, who worked for Park Avenue Cleaners with her sister told Tercero that he could easily get money from it and the three of them discussed how to commit the robbery. Tercero and the sisters “cased” the dry cleaners the day before the incident and devised a pager code so Lima’s sister could page Tercero and his accomplice when there were no customers in the shop. Tercero also testified that when he pulled out his gun in the dry cleaners, waved it in the air, and asked for money, Mr. Berger began to advance on him. The two men began struggling over the firearm and “the gun went off.”

However, Tercero’s story did not coincide with witness testimony.

According to this testimony, after the robbers escaped the dry cleaners with the money from the cash drawers, Tercero stayed with another woman, Sylvia Cotera, who he later told about the shooting. He told her he did so because the person didn’t have any money and that made him mad. He also told Cotera that he shot Berger because he was afraid he had seen his face and could identify him. He then threatened Cotera with burning down her apartment if she said anything.

Additional evidence in the case showed this incident wasn’t Tercero’s first run-in with the law for a similar crime. Tercero previously robbed three men at gunpoint in his home country, Nicaragua, where he shot one victim and kidnapped his four-year-old son. He also shot at officers who pursued him.

On November 20, 1997, a Harris County grand jury indicted Tercero for the capital murder of Robert Berger during the robbery. He was sentenced to death on October 20, 2000. Tercero filed an application for state habeas corpus relief and pro se petition for a write of habeas corpus, but was denied. On May 19, 2015, the 232^nd state district court issued an order setting Tercero’s execution date for Aug. 26, 2015.