Gustine man with lengthy criminal history convicted of 2020 murder at Merced County dairy
A 31-year-old Gustine man was convicted Tuesday in a brutal stabbing death reported a year ago at a west side dairy farm.
Jurors convicted Hector DeLaCruz of charges including first degree murder, attempted murder and six other felonies, related to robbery, assault and possession of a firearm, according to a press release by the Merced District Attorney’s Office.
DeLaCruz killed Santiago Mantar on April 20 on the dairy farm near Gustine. Five days earlier he robbed and assaulted two other victims.
This wasn’t the first time DeLaCruz had been in trial.
In 2017 and 2018, he had faced two different juries on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and criminal threats. Neither jury was able to a unanimous verdict and both times the case ended in a mistrial. The District Attorney’s Office eventually dropped the charges.
On Feb, 27, 2019, DeLaCruz stabbed a neighbor without provocation. A portion of the incident was captured on video, but the victim refused to cooperate with law enforcement.
DeLaCruz pleaded no contest to two counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon, both as strike offenses with credit for time served in the 2019 case, accounting to 165 days in jail and a nine-year suspended sentence.
In November 2019 DeLaCruz was arrested on five violations of his probation, including he allegedly committing arson and vandalism twice and driving on a suspended license.
DeLaCruz was eventually sentenced to serve two 180-day jail sentences in the Merced County Jail and released early. Two days later on April 15 he robbed and severely injured a man on the Gustine dairy and robbed two other men, threatening them with a knife.
DeLaCruz murdered Mantar five days later. Merced County Sheriff’s Office deputies quickly identified DeLaCruz, who wore a mask at all times during both 2020 incidents. The homicide was captured on video and detectives were able to recognize a face tattoo because the victim pulled at the face mask. Another video also captured DeLaCruz’s vehicle.
With the help of the Gustine Police Department, California Highway Patrol’s Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team, and the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services, DeLeCruz was tracked down and arrested.
At the trial, surviving victims testified. Law Enforcement officials and experts presented physical evidence linking the defendant to the crimes, including DNA on a wallet located in the defendant’s home that belonged to one of the victims and photos taken by the defendant within minutes of the April 15 assaults.
The Sheriff’s Dive team also searched a canal behind DeLaCruz’s residence and found a sweatshirt and gloves matching those seen in the video of the crime. Also blood stains containing the victim’s DNA were found in DeLaCruz’s vehicle and on boots located in DeLaCruz’s home.
Katie Gates and Sara Rosenthal of the Merced District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.
DeLaCruz faces a maximum of life in prison, plus the nine year suspended prison sentence for violating probation in the two felony matters in 2017 and 2019.
