A 52-year-old suspect accused of killing a couple in their Mission Avenue home pleaded not guilty to murder charges in Merced County Superior Court on Monday.
Dressed in an orange jailhouse jumpsuit, Julio Cesar Guevara Bonilla sat quietly during the brief hearing. He's charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of William Cisneros, 82, and his wife, Clara Cisneros, 43.
The couple's badly decomposed bodies were discovered Sept. 30 in the laundry room of their 440 Mission Ave. home. Merced County sheriff's investigators said the bodies had been stabbed multiple times.
Bonilla is also facing two felony counts of grand theft and one felony count of auto theft. Attached to each of the murder charges is an enhancement for allegedly using a knife. He was extradited from Louisiana last month and booked into the Merced County Jail on Oct. 23, following his arrest by Kenner Police Department officers.
Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin wouldn't comment Tuesday about what investigators may have learned after interviewing Bonilla.
"At this point in time, we believe (the motive) was robbery, just by the mere fact that he took the Cisneroses' personal belongings and fled in their vehicle," Pazin said.
Bonilla lived with the couple and had worked in their gardening business, according to investigators.
Deputy Public Defender Caleb Hegland, Bonilla's attorney, said he spoke with his client at length this week.
"This is a complex and unusual case. New facts continue to emerge as we conduct our own investigation into the deaths of William and (Clara) Cisneros," Hegland said. "Mr. Bonilla has indicated that he wants to move quickly towards trial. We are diligently preparing to present our case."
Bonilla is being held at the Merced County Jail in lieu of a $2.1 million bail.
Reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com.
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