The trial for a California man who is accused of killing four people took a strange turn, when the defense called a witness who they say is responsible for the murders.
Jose Larin Garcia is on trial for four murders that took place in Palm Springs almost three years ago, per local outlet KESQ3. This week, John Olvera, who the defense say is guilty of the murders, took the stand to plead his case.
The defense pointed to Instagram messages in which Olvera allegedly bragged about the killings. “I never meant that girl to die…” he wrote to a friend on Feb. 5, 2019. In another message, he wrote, “Jacob thought I was playin’ he shouldn’t have had a kid female in the car cuz he knew I was gonna get him…”
But Olvera said that he was just pretending, calling himself a “watered down gangster,” also known as a “wangster.”
“I was fronting for the ‘gram, fronting for the media… I’m a wannabe rapper,” he told the jury.
He also said that he looks up to YoungBoy Never Broke Again, calling him his idol—and that the social media messages were lyrics from his songs. “I’m a wannabe then, I’m a wannabe now, and I’m a wannabe in the future,” Olvera testified. Apparently, he had “street beef” with Larin Garcia, and one of the people Larin Garcia is accused of killing, Jacob Montgomery.
Larin Garcia allegedly shot and killed Montgomery, Carlos Campos, Yuliana Garcia, and Juan Duarte Raya on Feb. 3, 2019. After being found on the night of the murders, authorities took Larin Garcia to a local medical facility since he was covered in blood; however, he ran away and had a friend buy him a one-way bus ticket to Florida. He was later arrested at the bus stop.
The 22-year-old faces four counts of murder, as well as a special-circumstances allegation of committing multiple murders, which means he could also be facing the death penalty.
