AKRON, Ohio — After more than five days of testimony and evidence in court, the fate of Elias Gudino was turned over to the hands of a Summit jury, which deliberated for about three hours Thursday.
The question for jurors is not whether Gudino was there for the tragic events that unfolded March 9, 2023, but rather why he was there.
Gudino's attorneys claimed throughout the trial and in their closing arguments that Gudino was living his best life when the Mexican cartel he worked for 15 years earlier showed up at his doorstep and threatened his family. They argue a masked man had a gun pointed at Gudino throughout the kidnappings and murders, forcing him take part.
"That is duress," Greven, one of Gudino's lawyers, said. "That is not some imagined future possible thing, and in fact, one of my last questions to Detective (Mike) Yovanno was, 'If I point a gun at you, that's a now issue, isn't it?’ He said, 'Yes.' That is what duress is."
Greven told the jury it's human nature to want to hold someone accountable, but "holding somebody responsible that was under duress — that does not deserve to be held responsible — that's not justice."
Greven also questioned that if Gudino wanted the four victims dead, why would he drive them from Youngstown to Copley to do it on the side of a road?
“Make no mistake about it: Somebody wanted to make sure these bodies got found and somebody wanted to send a message, and the somebody who wanted to send the message was not Elias Gudino," Greven contended. "The somebody who wanted to send a message was the Mexican drug cartel, because that's what they do."
Then it was time for the state to make its case.
"I'm going to apologize because the defense spun you a story worthy of a major TV movie," Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Kevin Mayer said. "The cartel came out of the blue six years after he got out of prison?"
"The state believes that besides the defendant's own statements, there is no evidence that supports this," Assistant Prosecutor Zachary Neumann added. "That the bad man who is calling the shots, El Pequeño — "the small one" — is Mr. Gudino.”
The state argued Gudino wanted his wife back — text messages show he paid someone to cast a "love binding spell" on her. When that didn't work, they say he drove to Youngstown with an accomplice, held four roommates at gunpoint, and used them to get to the man who was living with his wife at the time.
When that failed, they argue Gudino took the four victims back to Summit County, where he and an accomplice bound, gagged, and shot them. One of the victims, Oscar Mejia-Gomez, survived and testified in court.
"He (Oscar) talked about how his friends were all murdered and how this man (Mr. Gudino) put a gun up to his head and shot at him," Neumann told the jury. "This is not a cartel-related killing; this is a jealous husband."
Nuemann also stated, "I want you all to remember what this case is really about." He then showed pictures of the victims including the surviving Mejia-Gomez and his roommates: 25-year-old Inmer Reyes, 31-year-old Victor Varela-Rodriguez, and 35-year-old Domingo Castillo-Reyes. The latter three were all killed.
The jury is expected to continue deliberations Friday morning. 3News will bring you the verdict live on WKYC.com, WKYC+, the 3News app, and our YouTube page when it's announced.
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