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According to documents newly reported by KGET, California resident Jose Gutierrez-Rosales revealed to authorities that he had allegedly beaten a co-worker to death over accusations of an affair with his estranged wife.
According to information provided this week, Jose Gutierrez-Rosales, 49, reportedly killed Hector Javier Castaneda Vasquez, 56, with an irrigation pipe when the two were working together outside Bakersfield on April 18.
Jose Gutierrez-Rosales claimed that he was "provoked" by other co-workers
Jose Gutierrez-Rosales asserted that he was allegedly provoked by other co-workers, citing that they made fun of him over the alleged affair before he carried out the attack. He said,
“The mockery of other co-workers was a motivating factor. They provoked all of this.”
Speaking about the incident, he told Kern County Sheriff’s investigators that he and Vasquez had been picking up pipes at the time.
“We were there picking up the pipes. I ate about two tacos, and I felt my body was strange, and then all of a sudden, I grabbed the pipe and I just started going at him.”
While beating Vasquez, he reportedly shouted:
“This is for getting involved with my family.”
Reports suggest that Vasquez didn’t surive the injuries and died at the scene. He endured multiple facial fractures and had several of his teeth knocked out. Additionally, there were cuts to his face and the back of his head.
Witnesses reported seeing a man in the distance striking something on the ground with full force. They initially assumed that it was a snake, since Vasquez was not visible from their angle. However, one witness later testified that he had urged Rosales to stop the beating.
Rosales reportedly fled the scene in his truck, finally getting out and walking to Bakersfield from Taft, some 36 miles away from the town where he had been working. He stated that he prayed to God for forgiveness while walking, and then began cutting himself with a box cutter. He also claimed to have buried his cell phone beside a vineyard after its battery dropped.
He said of his intentions:
“I am going to own it up like a man. If I had wanted to keep running, I would have fled to Mexico.”
Was Jose Gutierrez-Rosales married?
Investigators with the Kern County Sheriff's Department have been unable to determine if Jose Gutierrez-Rosales was married at the time he allegedly killed Vasquez.
According to a report seen by KGET, a woman (whose name has been withheld) had been in a relationship with him for three months, although the two had separated weeks before the April assault. She reportedly claimed that Rosales had anger issues.
Witnesses and coworkers identified Jose Gutierrez-Rosales as the murderer, and he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder on April 28. Court is set for Tuesday.
