BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A Kern County jury on Thursday found a man guilty of two counts of murder in the 2019 southeast Bakersfield shooting deaths of his girlfriend and a man.
Gudelio Grande, 46, was found guilty of killing Marbeli Castro-Garcia, 31, and Emilio Diaz Chavez, 36. They were gunned down July 21, 2019, in the 300 block of East Fairview Road.
Prosecutors say Grande assaulted his then-girlfriend Castro-Garcia three days before the shooting. She left to stay with a friend and they went to Los Angeles for the weekend. When they returned, Castro-Garcia’s friend introduced her to Chavez and the two picked up lunch and went to Rexland Acres Park to eat on a bench.
Grande found them together. He shot Castro-Garcia twice, killing her, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Then he shot Chavez, who tried to get away, but Grande chased the wounded man to East Fairview Road and fired several more shots, killing him, prosecutors say.
Arrested days later, Grande had stashed the murder weapon in his work locker, according to the DA’s Office. DNA analysis further connected him to the gun, prosecutors say.
Court records show he has no prior record in Kern County.
Sentencing is set for Dec. 5. Grande, who had no visible reaction as the verdicts were read, faces life behind bars.
