Appeals Court Reduces Conviction to 2nd-Degree Murder for El Cajon Stabbing

A state appellate court panel Friday reduced the murder conviction for a man who stabbed and cut another man in El Cajon more than 100 times from first to second-degree murder.

Gustavo Rojas Salgado, 29, was convicted by an El Cajon jury for the killing of 33-year-old Victor Saul Garcia Jr.

Garcia’s body was discovered in his Marline Avenue home by a family member on Oct. 23, 2020, according to El Cajon Police.

Prosecutors argued at the time of trial that the victim and defendant were friends who briefly lived together and that the motive for the killing was unclear.

A two-justice panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeal noted in Friday’s opinion that while the motive wasn’t certain, the prosecution argued there were two possible motives related to money and the fact that Garcia asked Salgado to move out of his house.

The appellate court wrote there wasn’t sufficient evidence to support that Salgado took or sought money from Garcia or that they had any argument about Salgado moving out.

Salgado’s case will be sent back down to the superior court for resentencing.

He was sentenced in late 2022 to 30 years to life for the murder and other charges. First-degree murder carries a 25-year-to-life prison term, while second-degree murder carries a 15-year-to-life term.

The order to reduce the conviction came from Justices Jose Castillo and William Dato.

However, a third justice, David Rubin, disagreed with his fellow justices and said the conviction should remain first-degree murder.

In a dissenting opinion, Rubin wrote that the number of wounds the victim sustained and the time it would take to inflict them meant “any reasonable jury could conclude the murder did not occur quickly. Indeed, if a killing endures for a period of time sufficient to allow a killer to consider his actions, that supports a finding of premeditation and deliberation.”

— City News Service