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Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Rafiel Torre takes the stand in his murder trial 


Rafiel Torre (left) with MMA groupie Shiloh McIver

Man faces murder charge in slaying of lover's husband

By Rod Leveque, Staff Writer

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A former cage fighter charged with murder took the witness stand in his defense Tuesday and flatly denied strangling his lover's husband.

Rafiel M. Torre admitted to having a passionate affair with Bryan Richards' wife, but he insisted he did not choke the man to death nor solicit anyone to do so, as other witnesses have testified.

Torre and his lawyer wasted no time in getting to the question everyone wanted to hear Tuesday afternoon in West Valley Superior Court.

"Did you kill Bryan Richards?" was the first question lawyer Anthony Robusto asked Torre.

"No, I did not," Torre quickly replied.

Torre, 40, is famous in the martial arts community for his bare-knuckled fights inside caged rings, and his work as a journalist and commentator on televised pay-per-view matches, such as the Kings of the Cage series.

He is accused of the Dec. 21, 2001, murder of Richards, who was found dead in the bed of his pickup in the parking lot of a Rancho Cucamonga supermarket.
Prosecutors allege Torre used an inescapable chokehold known as the "lion killer" to strangle the 32-year-old Rancho Cucamonga man so Torre could be with Richards' wife and live off the man's $1 million life insurance policy.

Earlier in the trial, Torre's former student, professional fighter Gerald Strebendt, testified that Torre offered him $10,000 to kill Richards a few months before Richards' death. Strebendt said he refused.

Later, Strebendt testified that Torre confessed to him he had killed Richards himself but claimed it was in self-defense.

Torre, wearing a gray suit and a dark tie, took the stand Tuesday and rebutted those allegations.

Answering his lawyer's questions in a soft voice, he said he never offered to pay Strebendt to kill Richards, never told his former student he wanted Richards dead and never killed anyone.

Robusto gave Torre a few opportunities to deny any role in the murder, but most of the questioning Tuesday surrounded Torre's background as a martial artist and how he met Richards' wife.

Throughout his testimony, Torre readily admitted to having an affair with the woman, even saying he fell in love with her.

He testified he first met her at a nightclub called Club Rubber in Santa Ana around April 2001.

He began seeing her more seriously by August, and by November and December he was having sex with her as many as five times a week, he testified.
"She told me she loved me, and I was falling for her," he testified.

Torre said Richards was unaware of the affair, and he and Richards considered each other pals.

Richards had loaned him a truck, and Torre scored Richards free tickets to cage fights, he said.

"He was a fight fan," Torre said.

Torre testified he was active in the world of cage fighting until a few months after Richards' death, when rumors of his involvement grew so loud that he was ostracized from the fighting community.

"It was the kiss of death," he testified.

Torre was on the witness stand for about an hour Tuesday afternoon before Judge Barry Plotkin recessed the trial for the day. Torre is expected to continue testifying today, when Deputy District Attorney Kent Williams will have a chance to question him.

Rod Leveque can be reached by e-mail at r_leveque@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9325.



posted by Rainbowthief   3:31 AM

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