Union-Tribune
San Diego, California
September 11, 2008 Suspect in wife's killing won't face death penalty MURRIETA – A Murrieta man suspected of killing his wife to collect more than $1 million in life insurance money will not face the death penalty, prosecutors said Thursday.
Kelle Lee Jarka, 40, is charged with murdering Isabelle Jarka, 40, in the bedroom of his home in the 39000 block of Tamarisk Street on April 28.
She suffered fatal head injuries.
A special circumstance allegation of committing murder for financial gain had made him eligible for the death penalty, but District Attorney Rod Pacheco decided to seek a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted, an office spokesman said.
The defendant originally called Murrieta police to report that someone had broken into his home while he was at a store, according to Murrieta police Lt. Dennis Vrooman.
It wasn't until 26 seconds into the call that Jarka told the emergency dispatcher that his wife may have been murdered, Vrooman said.
During the police investigation, Jarka told officers he had gone to pick up baby formula, even though plenty of formula was found in the house.
Other statements he made were inconsistent with evidence collected at the scene, Vrooman said at the time of Jarka's arrest.
A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 29 to determine whether enough evidence exists for Jarka to be tried.
JW Mom killed in house
by Wordly Andre 142 Replies latest jw friends
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fjtoth
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fjtoth
The Californian, Temecula, California
MURRIETA: Hearing begins for Murrieta man charged with wife's murder
Detective testifies that crime scene looked 'staged'
By JOHN HALL - Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 22, 2008 10:43 PM PDT
FRENCH VALLEY ---- The ransacked home in which a Murrieta woman was found murdered in April looked like it was set up to appear as if it had been the work of a burglar, a detective testified Wednesday.
Kelle Lee Jarka, 40, has been charged with murdering his wife, Isabelle, and doing so for financial gain. He has pleaded not guilty.
A preliminary hearing started Wednesday at Southwest Justice Center after which Judge Timothy Freer will determine whether there is enough evidence for Jarka to stand trial.
Jarka was arrested about a month after his 40-year-old wife was found dead April 28 in the upstairs master bedroom of their Tamarisk Street home.
Jarka told detectives he was out getting coffee and baby formula when someone broke into the home and killed his wife, police said at the time.
But Jarka's account of what happened didn't match what detectives say they found during their investigation, according to police.
"I felt this crime scene was staged," Murrieta police Detective Andrew Dorcas testified Wednesday.
Dorcas, who said he has handled hundreds of burglary cases as both a Los Angeles and now Murrieta police officer, explained that he based his opinion on the way things looked inside the Jarka home.
There were three drawers on the floor of the master bedroom upstairs that "appeared to be placed, put there, not just tossed as a burglar would do," Dorcas said.
The detective testified that slightly more than $500 cash was still in another drawer, about 5 feet from the ones that had been removed.
A laptop computer was also found "in plain sight" downstairs, Dorcas said, but a cabinet where a desktop computer tower normally would have been stored was empty.
Deputy District Attorney Burke Strunsky asked Dorcas about damage found to the door frame of a door leading from the side of the house to the attached garage.
Jarka's account, police said, was that he ran his errands that morning in his white Lexus sport utility vehicle and pulled back into the garage where he found the side door forced open.
"I felt the vehicle was in the garage when the door was forced open," Dorcas testified.
The white SUV was parked closest to that door, next to another smaller gray Lexus SUV also in the garage, police said.
Dorcas said detectives found a fleck of paint on the left front fender area of the larger white SUV. A Department of Justice criminalist told police that a test of that paint fleck matched paint from the nearby damaged door frame, Dorcas said.
The detective testified that, before the paint fleck was discovered, he opened the side door while the SUV was parked in the garage and it did not touch the side of the vehicle.
While questioning Dorcas, one of Jarka's defense attorneys, Mark Johnson, reminded the detective that his client worked in construction.
Johnson also asked him how many detectives had been walking around the area of the damaged door and the SUV. Dorcas estimated about eight detectives.
Inside the white SUV, detectives found a Toshiba laptop computer that was forensically examined by Murrieta police Detective Steve Jarvis.
Jarvis testified Wednesday about some of the things he found on the laptop's hard drive.
He said there were two "welcome" letters with policy numbers from separate life insurance companies, both sent to a Jarka family e-mail address on April 5, about three weeks before the death.
Prosecutors allege that Jarka took out two life insurance policies totalling $1 million on his wife, listing him as the beneficiary.
Although that allegation could have allowed the district attorney to seek the death penalty against Jarka, that is not being done. Should Jarka go to trial and be convicted as charged, he would face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Strunsky asked Jarvis whether he examined the laptop's hard drive for any Web searches made by a user. Jarvis said he did and testified about two specifically.
One included the sentence: "How long does a life insurance policy need to be in effect to pay out?" Jarvis said.
The other was: "Can you suffocate from a pillow," the detective said.
"Can you tell us definitively who typed in that search?" defense attorney Johnson asked Jarvis.
"No, I cannot," the detective answered.
Testimony is scheduled to continue Thursday morning and the hearing is expected to conclude later in the day.
Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or [email protected].The Union-Tribune,San Diego, California
Murrieta man to face murder trial in wife's death
2:35 p.m. October 23, 2008 MURRIETA – A Murrieta man suspected of killing his wife for life insurance money must stand trial for murder, a judge ruled Thursday.
Kelle Lee Jarka, 40, is accused of killing Isabelle Jarka, 40, whose body was found April 28 in the bedroom of the couple's home in the 39000 block of Tamarisk Street.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer ordered the defendant bound over for trial at the end of a preliminary hearing that began Wednesday afternoon and concluded Thursday morning.
Jarka also faces a special allegation that he killed for financial gain, making him eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted.
Jarka told investigators a burglar broke in through a garage side door and killed his wife, who had been beaten about the head and face, Murrieta police Detective Andrew Dorcas testified on Wednesday.
Dorcas said the garage side door had been forced open, but was apparently broken into while Jarka's Lexus SUV was in the garage, even though he had told police he went out to buy baby formula.
The detective also said the alleged burglary did not look genuine because drawers pulled out in the kitchen and bedroom were left too neatly discarded.
“Typically they're thrown across the room or in disarray, not neatly stacked or placed,” Dorcas said. “I felt this crime scene was staged.”
Murrieta police Detective Steve Jarvis testified that he found e-mails from two insurance companies on the defendant's laptop indicating he had recently taken out life insurance policies, and that someone had used the computer to ask how long an insurance policy needed to be in effect “to pay out.”
Jarvis also testified that someone used the computer to research using a pillow to suffocate someone.
Under cross examination by the defense, Jarvis said there was no way to know who actually used the computer.
Jarka reportedly was in debt and has missed some mortgage payments.
Freer set his arraignment for Nov. 6.
The Californian, Temecula, California
MURRIETA: Man to stand trial in wife's murder
Judge says timing, amount of life insurance policies led to decision to hold Kelle Jarka for trial
By JOHN HALL - Staff Writer | Thursday, October 23, 2008 7:01 PM PDT
FRENCH VALLEY ---- A Murrieta man charged with the murder of his wife must stand trial, a judge ruled Thursday.
Judge Timothy Freer said among the factors that led to his decision were not only the monetary amount of the three life insurance policies prosecutors say Kelle Lee Jarka took out on his wife, but the timing as well.
The three policies were taken out within about three weeks before Isabelle Jarka, 40, was found bludgeoned to death April 28 in the master bedroom of the couple's home on Tamarisk Street.
Murrieta police Detective Jeff Ullrich testified that, during a search of a file cabinet in the garage, he found copies of the three policies.
Two had "welcome" letters to Isabelle Jarka dated April 5 and a third was dated April 14, Ullrich said. All three listed Kelle Jarka as the sole beneficiary and did not include either of the couple's children, the detective said.
The amount of all three policies totaled $1.05 million, Ullrich said.
None of the policies show who actually took out the policy, he testified during questioning by Jarka's attorney.
The detective also testified about numerous past-due bills found in the home, ranging from a phone bill to the mortgage on the home. Ullrich said of the 14 messages left on a telephone answering machine, six were from bill collectors and one from an individual demanding money that was owed.
Isabelle Jarka died after being hit in the head and face 11 times with a blunt object, according to a coroner's autopsy.
Detective Danny Martin testified Thursday that the first officer at the crime scene said he found the woman's body in a 16-inch-wide pool of blood.
However, when Murrieta police officers first got to the home about 8:45 that morning, Kelle Jarka had no blood on him, detectives say.
Deputy District Attorney Burke Strunsky told the judge it doesn't make any sense that a man married to a woman for 19 years would be free of any blood in a case like this.
"You're gonna grab her, hold her; you're gonna have blood all over you," Strunsky said.
One of Jarka's two defense attorneys, Erin Kirkpatrick, told the judge that the lack of blood helps prove her client's account of what happened ---- that a burglar broke into the home and killed his wife while he ran errands that morning.
"The person who did this is going to have blood all over them," Kirkpatrick told the judge.
During an interview by detectives at the Murrieta Police Station, Jarka said he rolled his wife over to check on her when he got home and saw her, Martin said.
Freer said he infers from the lack of blood on the defendant, "that he didn't check or examine his wife."
Jarka, 40, sat stoically throughout his preliminary hearing at Southwest Justice Center, periodically taking notes with a small pencil provided him by the courtroom deputy.
Jarka was, however, emotional during the 911 call he placed the morning of April 28, his attorney told the judge.
"You can hear the emotion in his voice," Kirkpatrick said. "I think that's some of the best evidence we have."
As a recording of the 911 call was played during Thursday's hearing, a woman who had been in the audience bolted from the courtroom, weeping loudly.
During the call, Jarka sounded out of breath and upset. He could be heard telling the 911 operator, "I think my wife has been killed" and "everything's torn up" in the home.
Martin testified that it took Jarka 26 seconds into the call to tell the operator his wife had been killed.
Kirkpatrick pointed out to the judge that her client made the 911 call as he walked across the street to his mother-in-law's house to get her help.
"He had just seen his wife's body and he does tell (the operator) three times that his wife is dead," the defense attorney said.
Jarka was interviewed by Detective Phil Gomez at the police station from about 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. the day his wife's body was found, Martin testified, giving an account of what Gomez told him happened.
Gomez described Jarka's demeanor as "standoffish" and "nervous," Martin said.
"He didn't seem to show any emotion at all," the detective said.
"At times he tried to cry but no tears would come out," Martin said.
Jarka told Gomez that he and Isabelle had discussed divorce as recently as the Wednesday before she was killed, Martin said, adding that Jarka called his wife "a man-hater."
Kirkpatrick asked Martin whether Jarka was checked for any injuries. Martin said he had been checked, and no wounds or scratches were found on his arms, face or body.
The prosecutor asked Martin about the numerous times Gomez accused Jarka during the interview of killing his wife.
Jarka had "no reaction at all," Martin said. "He'd cross his arms or back up in his chair."
With the allegation by the prosecution that the murder was committed for financial gain, Jarka could have been eligible for the death penalty.
However, District Attorney Rod Pacheco has decided not to seek death, and Jarka now faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years to life if he is convicted.
Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or [email protected].The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, California
Murrieta man to be tried in wife's slaying
11:37 PM PDT on Thursday, October 23, 2008
By TAMMY J. McCOY Noting that life insurance policies were taken out three weeks before his wife was beaten to death, Judge Timothy F. Freer ruled Thursday that there was enough evidence for Kelle Lee Jarka to stand trial on charges of first-degree murder and a special circumstance of murder for financial gain.Three life insurance policies that would pay more than$1 million in the event of Isabelle Jarka's accidental death were taken out between April 5 and April 10, Detective Jeff Ullrich testified.
And the Murrieta couple was contemplating divorce, had numerous debts and clashed over their faith in the days before the 40-year- old wife and mother was beaten to death, detectives testified Thursday.
"One of the biggest problems she had with him was his lack of emotion," said Detective Danny Martin, referring to what Kelle Jarka told investigators.
Jarka called his wife of 18 years "a man hater" in the hours after Isabelle Jarka's slaying, the detective testified.
Martin was the final prosecution witness called during Jarka's preliminary hearing in French Valley.
Defense attorney Erin Kirkpatrick said there was no evidence that Kelle Jarka took out the insurance policies on his wife. Both husband and wife had access to the credit cards used to pay the monthly bills on these policies, she said.
All three policies listed Kelle Jarka as the sole beneficiary and there was no mention of the couple's two children as beneficiaries, said prosecutor Burke Strunsky.
Detective Andrew Spagnolo testified that Isabelle Jarka's mother recalled Kelle Jarka talking about taking out a$2 million life insurance policy.
Isabelle Jarka never mentioned anything about life insurance to her mother, he said.
"He would be the person who would have to die to get the payout?" asked defense attorney Mark Johnson.
Yes, Spagnolo said.
On April 28, Isabelle Jarka, 40, was hit in the head 11 times and found on the floor between the master bedroom and the hallway of the family's Tamarisk Street home, Martin testified.
"She crawled away as she continued to be beat," prosecutor Strunsky later told the court.
During his interview with Murrieta police, Kelle Jarka said he left the home April 28 to buy baby formula and coffee, Martin said.
When he returned, he pulled his sport utility vehicle into the garage and noticed a door was open, Martin testified.
However, police determined the door in question is constructed with springs in such a way that it cannot remain open, Martin said.
In the moments after he reportedly found his wife's body, Kelle Jarka sounded breathless and at times emotional while talking to a 911 dispatcher.
The call begins with Jarka reporting his home was robbed while he was out. Almost 30 seconds into the call he says something happened to his wife.
"I think my wife has been killed," Kelle Jarka tells a Murrieta police dispatcher. "She's laying on the ground with blood on her."
As the 911 tape was played, a few of the couple's 30-plus friends and relatives who attended the hearing dabbed their eyes with tissues.
One woman began sobbing and abruptly left the courtroom.
The dispatcher asks Jarka whether his wife is bleeding and it sounds as if Jarka is crying.
When asked whether he noticed any suspicious people or cars in the area, Jarka sounded like he was yelling when he replied no.
He later asks the dispatcher if she was sending an ambulance for his wife.
Jarka, 40, faces life in prison if convicted.
His next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 6 at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley.
Reach Tammy J. McCoy at 951-375-3729 or [email protected]
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Mary
He said there were two "welcome" letters with policy numbers from separate life insurance companies, both sent to a Jarka family e-mail address on April 5, about three weeks before the death. Prosecutors allege that Jarka took out two life insurance policies totalling $1 million on his wife, listing him as the beneficiary.............One included the sentence: "How long does a life insurance policy need to be in effect to pay out?" Jarvis said. The other was: "Can you suffocate from a pillow," the detective said.
Jarka told Gomez that he and Isabelle had discussed divorce as recently as the Wednesday before she was killed, Martin said, adding that Jarka called his wife "a man-hater."
Now why would a man take a million dollar life insurance policy out on a woman who he planned to divorce and who he described as a "man-hater"?? This idiot was obviously not very smart.
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Stealth
It looks like the Elders may have to testify in the case against Jarka. This won't help his case, Elder Jose Cespedes was at the Jarka house just hours before the murder.
Should the elder have to testify or should he be protected by clergy privilege. Is what they talked about just hours before the murder with this elder relevent to the Murder? I think it could be. I hope the Judge does also.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_clergy09.3c06480.html
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JWdaughter
It seems he was speaking to both spouses, not just the husband, which would seem to preclude the clergy/penitent defense.
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Barbie Doll
Sorry to hear about the wife I hope they get the Husband good, and JW covering it up for the Husband, that is just sick.
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fjtoth
The Press-Enterprise - Riverside County, California
Judge rules minister ineligible for confidentiality protections
12:02 AM PDT on Saturday, March 14, 2009
By TAMMY J. McCOY The Press-Enterprise
An ordained minister with the Jehovah's Witnesses voluntarily talked to detectives investigating the bludgeoning death of a Murrieta woman making him ineligible for the confidentially protections afforded by law to clergymen and their parishioners, a judge ruled Friday.
The ruling means that Jose Cespedes must testify during Kelle Lee Jarka's trial on charges of murder for financial gain in connection with the April death of his wife, Isabelle Jarka.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer ruled Cespedes waived his rights to confidentially, in part, because he freely gave statements to investigators on four separate occasions between April and June.
The ruling comes in response to Cespedes, an ordained minister with the Spanish Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses in Temecula, claim that he should not be compelled to testify because Kelle Jarka's statements were confidential communications between a clergyman and his parishioner.
During Friday's hearing, Cespedes testified Isabelle Jarka called on April 27 and asked him to come to the Jarka home, where he stayed from about 10 p.m. until 4 a.m.
"She wasn't asking for guidance from you as an elder with the Jehovah's Witnesses?" asked prosecutor Burke Strunsky.
No, Cespedes said. "I went there as a friend."
The conversation was focused on concerns Isabelle Jarka had about a congregation member who died from complications of AIDS, Cespedes said.
She was unaware of how the virus was spread and concerned about the safety of her family and her congregation, he said. She was also concerned that her husband was spending a great deal of time with the dead man's family.
Strunsky asked why Cespedes stayed at the Jarka home for six hours that night and into the next day.
"Sir," Cespedes answered, "a friend called and make me to listen to her concerns."
About five hours after Cespedes left the Jarka home, Kelle Jarka, 40, called Murrieta police and reported that he had returned home from running errands to find his wife unconscious on the floor, according to Murrieta police. Isabelle Jarka was hit in the head 11 times with a blunt object. Life insurance policies valued at more than $1 million were taken out on her in the weeks before her death, according to police.
Defense attorney Erin Kirkpatrick asked Cespedes if he ever spoke to Isabelle Jarka or Kelle Jarka alone.
No, he said, and no other topics were discussed during his visit.
The prosecution and the defense found themselves in rare agreement as they both asked the court to deny Cespedes request. During the hearing, Kelle Jarka said he was not seeking the protections afforded by the penitent-clergy privilege.
Freer also ruled Cespedes conversations did not meet the requirements of a penitential communication.
"Its simply not privileged information," the judge said. "He was clearly there as a friend."
To be deemed a penitential communication, the law says, the statements must made in confidence to a member of the clergy, who is authorized to hear such things, who has a duty to keep the communications secret.
Jarka's trial is tentatively scheduled to begin on April 20 at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley.
If convicted, Kelle Jarka faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Reach Tammy J. McCoy at 951-375-3729 or [email protected]
Comments (1)
Janice Taylor 5 hours ago wrote:
Good to go bravo Judge! A psychopath will still lie under oath 'theocratic warfare' and on a stack of Bibles even. BUT we will all be watching this and evidence doesn't lie either.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_clergy14.47d1c14.html
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robdawg
old topic I know, but I am posting updated information
according to this article, he was an elder.
An elder with a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation was being evasive when testifying during a Murrieta man’s trial on murder charges, a judge ruled this morning.
Judge Timothy Freer’s ruling allows the prosecutor to ask leading questions of Jose Cespedes, with the Murrieta-based Spanish Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, when he resumes his testimony this afternoon.
Prior to the trial, Cespedes attempted to avoid testifying in the trial of Kelle Lee Jarka, a 41-year-old Murrieta man charged with murder in connection with the April 2008 death of his wife, Isabelle.
Freer denied Cespedes request for the protections of the clergy-penitent privilege after learning Isabelle Jarka invited Cespedes — in his capacity as a friend and not a clergyman– over to her home on the night before she was killed.
Isabelle Jarka, 40, was found bludgeoned to death on the floor of her Tamarisk Street home. Kelle Jarka called police at about 8:45 a.m. on April 28, 2008, and reported finding his home burglarized and his wife dead.
Cespedes testified Isabelle Jarka wanted to talk to him after she learned a family friend recently died of AIDS and Kelle Jarka kept the friend’s illness a secret.
Deputy District Attorney Burke Strunsky asked Cespedes if an elder had a duty to report to other elders upon learning that a congregation member has AIDS. Cespedes initial responses did not completely answer the question so Strunsky asked again.
“So the fact that Kelle didn’t tell other elders was in violation of his duties as an elder?” Strunsky asked.
“That’s a choice he made,’ Cespedes replied.
Moments later, at about 11:15 a.m., Freer let the jury leave early for lunch and a brief hearing was held to determine if Cespedes could be deemed a hostile witness and the prosecution given more leeway in asking questions.
“The witness was being somewhat evasive in his answers,” Freer said. “It’s apparent from his demeanor, and his response to the questions, Mr. Cespedes is not necessarily answering questions in a forthright manner.”
Testimony is expected to resume this afternoon at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley. If convicted of murder and commission of the crime for financial gain, Jarka faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
also he was found guilty of murder on sept 14, 2009
Kelle Lee Jarka
After deliberating over portions of two days, a jury has convicted a Murrieta man of murdering his wife and ruled the slaying was done for financial gain.
Kelle Lee Jarka, 41, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jarka could be seen shaking his head after the verdict was read.
Jurors began deliberations Friday afternoon and returned this morning at 9 a.m. According to court records, the panel deliberated just over two hours before informing the court that it had reached a decision. The decision was announced in a courtroom packed with family members, officials from law enforcement and community members.
Jarka was convicted of first-degree-murder for the bludgeoning death of Isabelle Jarka in April 2008.
Prosecutor Burke Strunsky’s told jurors in his closing statement that Kelle Jarka was so determined to maintain his image and cushy middle-class lifestyle that he ambushed his sleeping wife crushing her skull in the confines of their bedroom. He argued that Jarka tried to make it appear as though his wife was killed by an intruder, going as far as staging a burglary.
In her closing argument, defense attorney Erin Kirkpatrick told jurors that Murrieta Police rushed to judgment and targeted Jarka from the start. Kirkpatrick said there is no direct evidence linking Jarka to his wife’s death.
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truthseekeriam
Very happy for her family.
I hope this brings some closure for them.
I remember her one of her sisters posting somewhere that they where going to fight for her sister, and that they did.