LAKEPORT — Opening statements and testimony began Thursday in a nearly five-year-old murder case against a Lakeport man.
Ivan Garcia Oliver, 34, is accused of using information obtained from the Megan”s Law online sex offender registry on Nov. 20, 2007 to kill Michael A. Dodele, 67, a registered sex offender at the time.
Oliver faces three felonies, including murder. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied several special allegations in the case.
Richard Hinchcliff, chief deputy district attorney, said in his opening statement Oliver became upset after finding out that registered sex offender Dodele was living in the same trailer park as many children, including Oliver”s son.
Hinchcliff said evidence will show Oliver spoke to many residents of the trailer park in an attempt to remove Dodele from the park. Oliver allegedly confronted Dodele in his trailer and stabbed him 60 times. Hinchcliff said witness testimony will show Oliver attempted to clean up blood in Dodele”s trailer with a blanket and bleach.
Oliver”s attorney, Stephen Carter, said in his opening statement that Oliver was under the impression Dodele intended to harm his son, who was 4 years old at the time, and was in a great state of anxiety before confronting Dodele.
A total of 10 people testified Thursday, most neighbors who were familiar with Oliver. Many said they were contacted by Oliver in the days before Nov. 20, 2007, in which he told them Dodele was a child molester.
Most recognized Dodele because of the events surrounding his death. Dodele recently moved into the Western Hills Resort trailer park on Lakeshore Boulevard in Lakeport.
Monica Bojorquez, a former neighbor of Oliver, was first to testify. She said she was standing in the kitchen of the trailer she was sharing with her mother, aunt and younger brothers and witnessed Oliver enter the trailer that Dodele was living in through a back door.
She said she saw Oliver leave the trailer a short time later holding a blanket with his right arm. She alleged Oliver attacked her in the morning before he confronted Dodele, and said she suffered bruises and scrapes. Bojorquez is male-to-female transgendered person and was living as a man in 2007.
Later in the day, the aunt, Brenda Bojorquez was called to the stand. She said she saw Oliver leave Dodele”s trailer holding a blanket, went to his car and then into his own trailer.
Neighbor Henry Smith testified Oliver visited him at his trailer and asked him if he was a child molester, which he denied. Smith said Oliver “seemed uptight.”
Trailer park manager Lacey Kou said she was contacted by Oliver a few days before Nov. 20. She said Oliver saw a suspicious car stop along Lakeshore Boulevard near the lawn where his son was playing. Oliver allegedly told Kou the driver spoke to his son; Kou testified once the driver saw Oliver approaching, the driver sped off. Kou said he came over concerned that there were child molesters living in the area.
Kou said she mentioned accessing the Megan”s Law website, where they allegedly discovered neighbor Dodele as a registered sex offender. She said Oliver acted surprised, upset and disturbed at the discovery and allegedly didn”t want this person that close to him.
Kou said the two agreed on a course of action to inform the residents of Dodele”s presence. She said she spoke to the owners of the trailer park about Dodele. The owners then set up a meeting with Dodele to discuss the possibility of him moving out of the trailer park. The meeting was scheduled for Nov. 20.
The trial will resume today in Department 3 at 10 a.m. Hinchcliff said the jury was braced to go until Aug. 31, but he hoped to be through a week or two earlier than that.
