A man accused of killing a homeless woman in Huntington Beach more than two years ago strangled her to death before decapitating her and burying her body, Orange County prosecutors argued in court Wednesday.
But the defense attorney for Antonio Padilla said the woman had been in poor health and her cause of death was never confirmed. Public Defender Daniel Kim also attempted to cast suspicion on other possible suspects during opening statements in Padilla’s trial.
Padilla faces one count of murder in connection with the death of Gina Marie Lockhart. Her body was unearthed by detectives in the yard of his parents’ mobile home on the 7800 block of Slater Avenue on July 17, 2022.
“The lingering question is … how did Ms. Lockhart die?” Kim said.
Padilla was homeless at the time of the woman’s death and occasionally stayed in a shed at the back of the property, Janine Madera, senior prosecutor for the Orange County District Attorney’s office, told the jury. His relatives began smelling a foul odor at the home about 15 days before Lockhart’s body was found. Loud noises could be heard from the shed in the days that followed, and the defendant’s sister reported seeing her brother burying something in the yard.
At one point, Padilla’s mother saw him carrying items wrapped in blankets that appeared to be stained with blood and crawling with maggots, Madera said. He refused to show her what was inside and fled when she decided to call the police.
Although officers responding on July 11 took note of a strong odor at the home, they didn’t immediately suspect a crime, Madera said. They thought a dead animal may have been on the premises, and suggested that residents deep clean the area.
When the defendant’s mother tried to tidy up the shed, she found a patch of hair still attached to a piece of scalp, women’s clothing she didn’t recognize and a dirty pair of Vans shoes that were missing laces. She called police again on July 16 and showed them what she found.
Investigators began excavating the lot and found Lockhart’s head and body buried together in a makeshift grave. She had been hogtied with a pair of shoelaces.
A cadaver dog searched the area and indicated to officers that the victim may have been killed in the shed. Blood matching Lockhart’s DNA was found on its floor and on the blade of a large knife stashed in a toolbox inside.
There were no signs of a struggle, sexual assault or injury found on the victim’s body aside from her decapitation, which led forensic investigators to conclude the latter took place after she had already died. Madera suggested she had been strangled, and any physical signs of that would be difficult to identify conclusively after her head was removed.
“It was a clean cut, no hesitation marks,” Madera said.
Padilla’s defense attorney emphasized the absence of broken bones or other injuries inflicted on the victim prior to her death. Kim said Lockhart was an apparent alcoholic in poor health that was exacerbated by life on the street.
Lockhart was 60 at the time she died and had been hospitalized in August 2021 with seizures that would last as long as two minutes, Kim said. She had been admitted to a hospital for alcohol poisoning on June 24, 2022, less than a week before she was last seen alive.
An employee at a taco truck typically parked at Morgan Lane and Slater Avenue, Emilia Martinez, may have been the last person to interact with the victim. The witness testified that she spotted Lockhart in a nearby yard two years ago on June 30, apparently clutching her belly in pain and lying in the fetal position.
Martinez also recalled frequently seeing Lockhart with a homeless man the victim had identified as her boyfriend, Rick Burnhardt. Kim attempted to paint Burnhardt as one of the last people who had contact with Lockhart and a potential suspect in her death.
However, the prosecutor pointed out that Burnhardt was working and staying at a job site in Long Beach at the time the victim went missing. She also noted cadaver dogs that searched his van did not appear to find anything suspicious.
The defense attorney told jurors that Antonio Padilla’s father, Mario Padilla, was seen rummaging in and around the shed as police investigated their property. He claimed the shed was actually the latter’s “man cave” and that his son would crash inside the mobile home instead of the shed. Kim also said his client’s father planted tomatoes over the site where Lockhart was buried, insinuating he attempted to conceal the grave.
Although the defendant and victim were both homeless and known to frequent the same area, there didn’t appear to be any prior connection between them, Madera said. Lockhart had been living on the street for about two years, her mother, Donna Ashbaugh, said from the witness stand Wednesday. They managed to keep in touch with each other and spoke on the phone at least once a week.
Ashbaugh described her daughter’s demeanor the last time they spoke as “kind of upbeat. She would always call me early to assure me she was OK.”
Licas writes for the Daily Pilot
