Fri. July 2, 2004
Columbia, Missouri -
The married police officer boyfriend of a University of Missouri-Columbia student was charged Thursday with his murder.
The body of 23 year old Jesse Valencia was discovered last month on the lawn of a residence about a block from his apartment near the university campus. Police said that his throat had been slashed and that he had bled to death.
Shortly after the investigation into the killing began friends of Valencia said he was having a secret affair with a police officer. The friends told homicide investigators that the officer had arrested Valencia on April 18 for interfering with officers responding to a peace disturbance in the area. The friends said the officer then started visiting Valencia’s apartment.
That officer was later identified through Valencia's arrest report as Steven Rios.
As the investigation began to focus on Rios, the 27 year old officer resigned from the Columbia Police Force.
This week DNA evidence taken from Valencia's finger nails came back pointing to Rios.
He was charged at the Biggs Forensic Center in Fulton State Hospital, where he had been hospitalized under police guard after threatening suicide when his affair became public.
Detective John Short, in a probable cause statement filed Thursday in Boone County Circuit Court, cited the reasons for the arrest, noting that Rios at first denied the relationship with Valencia.
"He eventually admitted the sexual relationship but continued to deny committing murder," Short wrote. "The last physical contact that Rios admitted having with" the victim "was more than a week prior to June 5."
But, said Short in the filing, it is unlikely DNA would remain under someone’s fingernails for more than a week if that person regularly washed.
"Rios would often carry the knife in both his right and rear uniform pants pocket," Short's notice to the court said. "This knife has not been found during searches of both Rios’ home and locker at work."
Circuit Judge Gary Oxenhandler denied Rios bond, writing that he "poses a threat to himself and the community."
©365Gay.com® 2004
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