Man convicted in 2014 Merced County double homicide awaits sentencing. Here’s the latest

The last of six defendants in a brutal 2014 double homicide appeared in Merced County Superior Court on Thursday, but it will be at least another two months before prosecutors can close the book on the seven year-old case.

Monico Pena, 41, was convicted by a jury in November for the deaths of Reyes Garcia Barona, 29, of Atwater and Rudolpho Barona, 32, of Sacramento.

The victims’ charred bodies were found inside a burned car on Oct. 20, 2014 off East Monte Vista Avenue, not far from Denair.

Back in November a Merced County jury found Pena guilty on four counts for his role in the killings. The counts included first degree murder and kidnapping of the two victims.

Pena, who faces a maximum sentence of life without parole, is believed to have been responsible for Garcia Barona’s death by beating him with a baseball bat.

He appeared in court Thursday for his sentencing hearing, but Judge Steven Slocum, at the defense’s request, moved sentencing to March 24.

Pena’s attorney Preciliano Martinez asked for time in order to review cell phone records showing alleged calls between Pena and another defendant.

Prosecutors believe the two victims were kidnapped Oct. 18, 2014, held in Atwater and Winton homes for two days while bound with duct tape and eventually taken to the orchard to be killed. Before abandoning the victims’ bodies, the killers torched the car, using diesel fuel, according to investigators.

The double murder is suspected to have been the bloody conclusion to a dispute over large quantities of marijuana, with possible ties to a Mexican drug cartel, according to prosecutors.

During their investigation, authorities seized more than 150 pounds of marijuana buds from a house in the 6800 block of California Street in Winton, along with about $4,000 in cash and several guns.

The others arrested in the 2014 homicide have been convicted.

Of the men who were said to have played a leading role in the killings, Heliodoro Silva Arreola, was convicted by a jury on Nov. 4, 2016 on two counts of first-degree murder.

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This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 2:59 PM.