Witness Testimony Paints Bloody Picture in Aggravated Assault Trial

Elias Bihl entered a plea of “not guilty” before a jury in the 340th District Court Monday for a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon stemming from an incident involving himself and former roommate Rigoberto Rivera on May 11, 2013.

According to police reports and witness testimony, Rivera and Bihl were living together at a house in the 1600 block of Juanita Ave. rented by their former employer, and had been drinking “a couple of beers” and snorting cocaine on the night of the alleged assault.

Assistant District Attorney Jason Ferguson called Rivera as the prosecution’s first witness shortly after presiding Judge Weatherby and the defense and prosecution agreed on allowing Rivera to proceed in English, his second language.

Rivera was able to testify without the need of an interpreter, who had been placed on stand-by, however language did seem to become a barrier throughout the testimony, particularly for defense attorney Nathan Butler, who resorted to everything from verbal description to physically acting out what was meant to make sure Rivera understood his questions.

Dressed in blue jeans and an olive, white and navy plaid button-down, Rivera approached the witness stand and retold the events as they unfolded little more than one year ago. 

According to his testimony, Rivera and Bihl had been sitting in the living room of their house having a couple of beers and snorting cocaine when Bihl “went crazy”. Rivera said he couldn’t remember how much cocaine was ingested or how many beers the two drank, but estimated it to be around six.

“Everything was alright. We were just talking about work and stuff,” Rivera said with a reasonably thick Spanish accent. “I don’t know what happened to him (Bihl). He was just going around the house looking out curtains and windows.”

Rivera described Bihl’s demeanor as going from relaxed to paranoid, stating that he began pacing the house and peering out the two living room windows for several minutes and saying that someone was coming to kill them. “He told me to hide,” Rivera said, at which point he says he began following him around the house while Bihl continued to talk and state that someone was coming to kill them.

After several minutes, Bihl retrieved a beige and black 9mm handgun—reportedly registered to his sister—from his bedroom, Rivera said. Bihl then put the gun to his head, he said. He then took him to the kitchen, where he retrieved a knife, and then took Rivera back to the bedroom where he assaulted him, Rivera said.

“First he tried to put the gun in my mouth, then he started hitting me in the head a bunch of times,” he said. As he spoke, Bihl watched him, occasionally shaking his head and jotting down notes on a legal pad before him.

According to Rivera, Bihl had been holding him with the knife at his neck and the gun to his right temple. The blows Bihl administered with the gun in his hand, he said, came from behind and knocked his head forward and he ultimately ended up lying in a fetal position on the floor, covering himself as Bihl continued to assault him. 

“Everything happened so quick…” he said. “I passed out…” Rivera said that when he came to he noticed that Bihl was no longer in the room so he took the chance to escape. Pushing a wall unit out of a window, Rivera dove out of the window and ran through the backyard, jumped over the fence and sought help from a neighbor. He had to try twice, he said, because the first neighbor he tried wasn’t home, but he ultimately called the police from a residence in the 1700 block of Juanita Ave.

“I was scared,” Rivera said. “I thought I was going to die that night.”

Officer Charles Barker was dispatched to the 1700 block of Juanita Ave. for unknown problem around 11:40 p.m., he testified. While en route, he said, he drove up on an accident on Jefferson St. approximately four to five blocks from where he was heading and saw a four-door Cadillac crashed in the front driveway of a residence that had mown down a mailbox and a flowerbed. Elias Bihl was standing outside the vehicle and was screaming something about a gun, he said.

“At that point I observed smeared blood on Mr. Bihl’s person,” Officer Barker testified. “It didn’t appear it was his.”

Barker said that he didn’t notice any injuries on Bihl at that time and said that he “definitely was not making any sense”. He said Bihl had been screaming that someone on the street behind him had a gun, then switched to say the residents of the house he had crashed into were armed, then said he himself was carrying.

Meanwhile, Officer Tony Dietz had arrived in the 1700 block of Juanita Ave. “When I arrived, I noticed a male subject laying on the ground and noticed a bloody hand up in the air,” he told the jury Monday. Dietz identified the man as Rivera, and stated that he was covered in blood.

“He was very distraught,” Dietz said. “He was almost crying. He was whimpering. He was very worried that someone may be after him. He said someone with a gun was trying to kill him.”

Officer Dietz made several photographs of the victim in front of the neighbor’s house, including some of his right arm, which he said appeared to have been stabbed with something sharp. Dietz was later sent to the hospital to arrest Bihl, he said. As he stated he hadn't noticed any injuries to the suspect, Bihl shook his head and mouthed a single word.

In an official complaint filed with the court, Detective Matthew Vaughn states that Rivera was stabbed several times with a folding knife in his right arm. Further injuries, according to the complaint, include lacerations on his left hand and right ear.

In a previous testimony, Rivera is reported to have stated Bihl assaulted him with a kitchen knife. “I noticed that it was black,” he said. “I said it was a kitchen knife, but I did not see the knife. All I know is that it was black.”

Having been shown the knife Monday morning by Ferguson, Rivera was asked if the weapon he saw was the same one used. “Honestly, I’m not sure if that’s the knife,” he said.

Rivera testified Monday that he had been unaware of the cuts on his arm and body until he arrived at the hospital on May 11. SAPD Detective Matthew Vaughn, who had been on call the night of May 11, 2013, described the wounds to the court.

“They appeared to be defensive wounds,” Vaughn said on the witness stand. “There were some puncture wounds and lacerations.”

Vaughn verified that the evidence—the 9mm handgun and the folding knife—brought into the courtroom did indeed stem from the incident being discussed and prosecutor Jason Ferguson held up a box containing a black Extreme Ops Smith and Wesson folding knife to the jury. On the blade, Vaughn testified, was dried blood.

Vaughn stated that during his interview with the victim in the hospital, Rivera stated that Bihl had retrieved what he thought was a kitchen knife, but that he wasn’t sure.

Det. Vaughn further explained the process of his investigation, and what the officers found at the scene of the crime. Vaughn said he went first to the scene of the crash in the 1100 block Jefferson St., where he noticed a “substantial amount of blood in the vehicle”. Vaughn then instructed officers to secure the crime scene on Juanita Ave. and attained permission to enter the residence from Rivera at Shannon Medical Center.

Initial first responders had entered the house via a broken window to ensure there were no other victims or suspects inside, and upon his arrival, Vaughn made use of that window for entry as well, as the front door appeared to be blocked by a chair.

Officers Kvittem and Bradshaw had entered the house first and Kvittem stated that “The bedroom was a complete and total mess. There was a pool of blood on the floor and there was a pistol and knife on the floor.” Kvittem said stuff was thrown everywhere and that a dresser had been overturned in the bedroom as well.

Vaughn elaborated on the inside of the dwelling. “There were two chairs in the living room that had two beer bottles at the feet of the chairs,” he said. “I observed a dinner plate, a credit card, a small plastic baggy with a white substance inside and a rolled up dollar bill…”

The officers followed a trail of blood leading from the window to the fence in the backyard, and determined Rivera’s flight pattern. Vaughn then returned to the hospital to arrest Bihl on probable cause, but was unable to interview him due to his perceived altered state.

“It appeared he was intoxicated on an unknown substance,” Vaughn stated. “He was very confused and he wasn’t able to identify himself.”

When defense attorney Butler asked if Vaughn had noticed any injuries to Bihl, Vaughn stated that he had. Bihl had suffered cuts and abrasions on his forehead back and finger, and photos of these injuries were published to the jury.

The prosecution also produced several photos for evidence, including those taken of Rivera outside the neighbor’s house on Juanita Ave. and in the hospital that evening. Blood samples had been taken at the crime scene, Vaughn said, but were not run for a match due to difficulty reaching Rivera after the incident for a sample to compare against.

Rivera now lives in Del Rio. Bihl is currently serving a 25-year sentence for two previous convictions of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon stemming from an incident on Feb. 3, 2013, in which he was found guilty of shooting Henry Fitchett Jr. and Armando Ruiz. He was also convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm, for which he received a two-year sentence. All of his sentences run concurrently and he is currently appealing all three.

Prosecuting attorney Jason Ferguson filed a motion in March of this year to cumulate Bihl’s sentences, meaning that if he is found guilty for his present charge, he will serve the prescribed sentence at the conclusion of his current 25-year term.

Testimony and punishment will continue Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m. in courtroom D.