Gang-murder tattoo helps convict machinegun killer

The jury that found gang member Anthony Garcia guilty of murder in a Los Angeles court last week must have been pretty sure they were making the right decision: the defendant had evidence of guilt quite literally written all over him.

In a bizarre piece of detective work, police have claimed that Garcia first came to their attention after sharp-eyed officers noticed that he had an image from the scene of an unsolved crime tattooed across his chest.

The image showed a peanut-shaped man being killed by machinegun fire from a helicopter outside a branch of the off-licence chain Ed's Liquor.

Above the scene were the words "Rivera kills", which has been interpreted as a reference to a Latino street gang, Rivera-13.

Kevin Lloyd, an investigator for the LA County Sheriff's department who specialises in dealing with street violence, noticed the highly original tattoo while examining a photo that had been taken of Garcia in 2008, when he was arrested during a routine traffic stop on suspicion of driving with a suspended licence.

He promptly checked through a list of unsolved crimes in the Pico Rivera neighbourhood of East Los Angeles, and discovered that in 2004, a 23-year-old called John Juarez had been murdered outside a branch of Ed's Liquor.

Photos of the crime scene revealed that his body had fallen at the same angle as the "peanut" figure in the tattoo. When it also emerged that a streetlamp, a road sign and a string of Christmas lights adorning the image inked below Garcia's collarbone corresponded exactly with the same crime scene, Lloyd tracked him down and had him arrested.

While Garcia was in custody, undercover officers posing as fellow gang members approached him and asked about the distinctive tattoo. He nonchalantly informed them it portrayed his first killing.

That confession was played to a jury last week, who found Garcia, 25, guilty of first degree murder. He will be sentenced next month, when under Californian law he will face an enhanced jail term because the killing was linked to gangland activity.

During the trial, prosecutors called expert witnesses to explain some of supposed symbolism which features in the tattoo. They told jurors the word "peanut" is often used by Latino gang members to derisively describe a rival gang member. The helicopter is believed to refer to the defendant's nickname in Rivera-13: his peers apparently call him "chopper".

- INDEPENDENT