During what was, without a doubt, the most heated day of testimony during the long awaited murder trial of Rafiel Torre (born Ralph Bartel), the disgraced MMA journalist cracked under cross examination by Deputy D.A. Kent Williams and inadvertently confessed to killing Brian Richards, admitted that he was a fraud whose greatest achievements were mere fabrications and finally implicated Richards' widow, Angelina Richards, as the mastermind behind the killing.

From http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~3004792,00.html


Trial bombshell: Ex-cage fighter accuses mistress

By Rod Leveque, Staff Writer

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A former cage fighter betrayed the woman he once loved on Wednesday when he took the witness stand in his murder trial and blamed her for the killing.
Rafiel Torre, deflecting blame away from himself, told jurors that his former mistress, Angelina Richards, hired a hitman to kill her husband, then asked him to help cover it up if she were ever caught.

"She said she had her husband killed," Torre testified Wednesday. "She said if she were ever arrested, I should come forward and claim it was self-defense."

Torre dropped the bombshell allegation for the first time during what was the final day of testimony in his trial in West Valley Superior Court.

He said he never told the story to police or anyone else before because he was in love with Richards, but he had to tell it now because his life is on the line.

Torre is known in the martial arts community as a former fighter and for his work as a journalist covering the burgeoning, bloody sport of professional cage fighting.

The 40-year-old man is on trial for the murder of Bryan Richards, a 32-year-old Rancho Cucamonga father who was found strangled in the bed of his truck in December 2001.
Prosecutors allege Torre used a move called the "lion killer" to choke Richards to death so he could be with the man's wife, Angelina Richards, and live off her husband's $1 million life insurance payout.

Angelina Richards has not been charged with any crimes.

Torre, testifying for a second day on Wednesday, repeatedly denied killing Richards.
He told jurors he suffered a hand injury during a fight a week before Bryan's death that made him physically unable to apply the chokehold that killed the man.

He said Angelina Richards confessed her husband's murder to him about five days after Bryan Richards died. She refused to tell him who she hired, he testified.

She did, however, give Torre her husband's gun, he said, with orders that he come forward and claim responsibility for the killing if she were ever arrested.

He was supposed to tell police Bryan Richards confronted him with the gun over the affair, and that he fought back in self-defense, he testified.

"That was her idea, not mine," he testified.

After Torre's jaw-dropping allegation against his former lover, Deputy District Attorney Kent Williams spent more than an hour trying to discredit him. Prior to Wednesday, the key prosecution witness in the trial was one of Torre's former martial arts students, Gerald Strebendt, who testified Torre told him he killed Richards in self-defense.

Torre on Wednesday admitted to telling Strebendt that story, but said it was a lie designed to protect Angelina.

Seeking details, Williams asked Torre if he told Strebendt he wore gloves during the confrontation with Richards.

Torre then either inadvertently confessed to the killing or made an unfortunate slip of the tongue.

"I didn't wear gloves," Torre answered.

Torre then quickly revised his answer to say he meant he didn't tell Strebendt he wore gloves.
Williams moved on, asking Torre how he could maintain a torrid love affair with a woman he believed orchestrated the "diabolical murder" of her own husband.

Torre answered that he was "freaked out" after Angelina Richards' confession. He said he distanced himself from her for several months.

Williams then confronted Torre with love letters and photos that showed Torre and the woman growing closer after the killing.

Williams also attempted to shred Torre's credibility, portraying him as a frequent liar who built his life by perpetrating frauds.

During the prosecutor's cross-examination, Torre admitted he deceived his wife of 10 years into believing he was a Navy SEAL, when in fact he flopped out of boot camp. He lied to the martial arts community about his background in Brazilian jujitsu, and he lied to police about his knowledge of Richards' murder.

"Is it fair to say that your life has, as one of its marked characteristics, the manipulation and deception of people?" Williams asked.

"Yes," Torre replied.

Torre, however, insisted he was telling the truth now that his life and freedom are at stake.
Williams, incredulous at the notion, came back with a flurry, listing Torre's many motives for murder and demanding honesty.

"Why don't you just tell the truth?" Williams challenged Torre. "Why don't you just come clean and admit to it instead of being a coward and lying?"

"I'm not lying," Torre answered.

Both sides rested their cases after Torre's testimony Wednesday. Closing arguments are set for Monday morning, and jurors could begin deliberating by Monday afternoon.

Angelina Richards' lawyers did not return calls Wednesday seeking comment on Torre's accusations.

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