A transient who beat a homeless man to death alleges God asked him to do so. 35-year-old Marco Antonio Villanueva was booked on grounds of murder by the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau in Bassett, California on June 23rd. Villanueva apparently confessed to the killing during an interview with investigators.
Lieutenant Steve Jauch of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said, “He said in the interview God told him. And there was a dispute over that space.”
Reportedly, the victim and the suspect wanted the same spot in a parking lot situated in Valley Boulevard. When the spat grew out of hand, investigators believe Villanueva used a metal bucket to beat 56-year-old Ruben Zermeno to death. Zermeno’s body was found on June 18th when locals reported a ‘man down’ early morning.
Investigators discovered that a man driving a golden Honda Accord was often seen in the area and as it turned out, this man was not only the killer but also booked under charges of a stolen car that went missing almost a month ago. When Villanueva was arrested, he was asleep on somebody’s porch in Hacienda Heights with the exact same car parked on the driveway.
“He didn’t live at that house,” Jauch said.
According to Ed Winter, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, Zermeno died from multiple blunt force injuries, causing investigators to rule his death a homicide. Currently, Villanueva has been kept at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility with a bail of over $1 million.
