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Trial begins for man accused of 2012 Riverhead murder

FAMILY COURTESY PHOTO | Mirian Garcia of Aquebogue
FAMILY COURTESY PHOTO | Mirian Garcia of Aquebogue

The trial of Mr. Alvarado-Ajcuc began Thursday at Suffolk County court, almost exactly two years after he was arrested for Ms. Garcia’s murder.

The short man — dressed in a white t-shirt and wearing his shoulder length black hair slicked back — faces two counts of murder for the May 6, 2012 slaying of Ms. Garcia Mancilla, who was found dead in the bushes in a corner of the parking lot the next day.

Ms. Alvarado-Ajcuc’s defense attorney, Eileen Powers, said in her opening statement that while it’s clear Mr. Alvarado-Ajcuc — whom she called by his nickname, “Chino” — and Ms. Garcia Mancilla both left the Sabor Latino restaurant on Old Country Road, the prosecution will be unable to prove that her client intended to kill her.

“This isn’t a ‘whodunnit,’ ” she said, “But it is a ‘what happened.”

Before the trial had begun, one juror was excused after she told Judge John Toomey that her anxiety attacks would make it impossible for her to see the graphic crime scene photos.

During opening statements, Mr. Kurtzrock said Mr. Alvarado-Ajcuc confessed to people at a deli that he had “hurt a girl” hours after the killing, tried to disguise his appearance by shaving his head, and later confessed to detectives in a videotaped interview.

He said it was clear that Mr. Alvarado-Ajcuc — an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who has been living in the United States for four years — was guilty because he supplied details to the detectives on the case before they told him about them.

But Ms. Powers said it was the detectives — not her client — who mentioned the circumstances around the case, and said detectives continued to insist Mr. Alvarado-Ajcuc was guilty until he confessed.

“It is apparent Chino doesn’t understand” what was being said during the interrogation, she said. “There is going to be no evidence of a rape or any attempted rape.”