Testimony concludes in punishment phase of Rubio capital murder trial

EDINBURG — The bodies of two of the three young children killed and mutilated by a Brownsville man had minor wounds that were intended not to kill them but to inflict pain, according to courtroom testimony Wednesday.

Closing arguments are expected today in the punishment phase of the capital murder trial of John Allen Rubio. He had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but was convicted of capital murder Monday for all three slayings.

Both the prosecution and defense have concluded their presentation of witnesses for the jury, which will be charged with making a sentencing recommendation to the judge. The prosecution has said it is seeking the death penalty.

This is not the first time Rubio, 29, has been tried for the murders of Julissa Quesada, 3, John E. Rubio, 14 months, and Mary Jane Rubio, 2 months — the son and two daughters of his common-law wife, Angela Camacho. Rubio, the biological father of the youngest child, was convicted of the murders in 2003 and sentenced to death, but that conviction was overturned on appeal, effectively granting him a new trial.

Camacho already pleaded guilty to her role in the murders, which occurred at the family’s Brownsville apartment. She is serving a life sentence.

On Wednesday, jurors heard from tearful relatives of the children, as well as from Dr. Marguerite DeWitt, a forensic pathologist who testified that Julissa and John E. Rubio sustained small, superficial puncture wounds that were not meant to end their lives but to cause them pain.

Dewitt displayed graphs and some of the autopsy photos and stated the wounds were inflicted while the children were still alive.

Angela Saldivar, the mother of Camacho and grandmother of the children, took the witness stand and described the children as happy and always smiling.

“I lost my three adored children,” the sobbing woman said. “All was lost for me. … I miss them dearly. I need them.”

Saldivar said she was especially fond of Julissa and called her “my adored pet.”

Also testifying was Mayra Gonzalez, who said she was the children’s aunt and missed them dearly. She said she had never met Rubio.

“To this day I still can't believe it,” Gonzalez said of the murders. “(The children) were full of life. Everybody loved them and cared for them.”

She had hoped the children would be placed in her care when the state’s Child Protective Services division took them away from Camacho and Rubio prior to the children’s slayings, she said.

In the months before the murders, CPS had investigated the couple on suspicion of providing inadequate care for the children. But after Camacho and Rubio fulfilled certain requirements, the children were returned to them.

Some of the jurors were moved to tears by the testimony of the family members.

The jury also heard from Alan Brantley, a former FBI agent and profiler who is a psychologist and an expert on violence and crime assessment.

He testified that Rubio is emotionally disturbed and, with certain stressors, has a high probability of being dangerous.

Defense attorney Ed Stapleton repeatedly objected to Brantley's testimony on the grounds that he has only a master’s degree in psychology, not a doctorate, and is not qualified in the state of Texas to practice psychology. Stapleton said Brantley's observations were not scientific and couldn't be peer reviewed.

State District Judge Noe Gonzalez overruled Stapleton’s motions but limited the scope of Brantley's testimony.

The defense called as a witness one of Rubio's special education teachers, Delfina Treviño, who talked about Rubio’s learning disability at the time he was a student. She said he began calling her “Mom” when she scolded him for missing assignments.

During cross-examination, Treviño stated that Rubio was in classes with the regular student body but was given an easier workload and extra time to complete assignments.

The defense also called as witnesses Dean Garza, the infirmary supervisor for the Cameron County Jail System, and Lt. Gilbert Flores and other detention officers who testified to Rubio's good behavior while in custody.

Garza said Rubio went to his office several times and, despite having access to pens and other potentially dangerous items, was never aggressive toward him.

According to previous testimony, Rubio was housed in the infirmary for fear that other inmates might attack him because of the nature of the charges against him. The children were killed by beheading.

Jurors also heard from Methodist Deaconess Cindy Johnson, who stated that she had spoken to Rubio and found him to have had a sad childhood. Despite that troubled upbringing, he had maintained a certain dignity about himself, she noted.

Several Catholics, including priests and nuns, spoke out against the possibility of executing Rubio.

The last witness for the defense was Jolie Brams, a psychologist who testified that Rubio experienced neglect and abuse from a very early age that led to psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations of shadows. She said Rubio suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Rubio, she said, began to favor his imagination over reality and at some point became engrossed in a popular Japanese cartoon called Dragon Ball.

“It became an obsession for him,” Brams said. “The show has small, innocent-looking characters who appear weak but develop superpowers and are able to overcome evil.”

Dragon Ball became part of Rubio’s delusion, she said.

“He became that cartoon,” Brams said. “He went into his head and into Dragon Ball.”

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Ildefonso Ortiz is a reporter for The Brownsville Herald.