One year ago on Sunday a disabled man was brutally murdered in his Bakersfield apartment. His family says it was a random murder, meaning he did not know his killers.
33-year-old Norberto “Beto” Gutierrez suffered a traumatic brain injury after an accident at work in Los Angeles. So he came back to Kern County to be with his family.
“He came home to recover from that injury,” his mother Vera Garay said.
Gutierrez moved in with his father at a Bakersfield apartment at on Palm Street.
His family said Gutierrez liked to go shopping, hold barbeques for the neighbors, and spend time with his family. They said he was an upstanding citizen, who was liked by all.
But Gutierrez would never recover from his devastating injury. At 11:45 a.m. on March 14, 2009 his father and sister came home and found him beaten to death in a bathroom. He had spoken with his family less than three hours earlier. One item was stolen, but police won't say what.
Time ticks away and his murder remains unsolved.
“He's not around anymore. I miss his phone calls. He used to call me morning, noon, and night. He would call me all the time,” Garay said.
“I miss him a lot. I miss him a lot,” Melissa Jensen, his sister, said.
On Sunday, Gutierrez’s family, friends, and former neighbors spent the afternoon at Saunders Park, near his apartment, with signs that read "My son deserves justice" and "Don't let this be another cold case."
One suspect is a white female, 6 feet tall, with blond hair and a medium build, between 30 and 40 years old. She was reportedly with a black man. She was driving a teal or green colored hatchback car. They were seen at his apartment that morning.
“It's important for our family because we don't want this to happen to your family or someone else's family as well,” Jensen said.
There is a $5000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of Gutierrez’s killers. If you have any information, please call the Secret Witness Hotline at 322-4040. You may remain anonymous.
