Massacre suspects appear together in Tulare County court. What the judge expects next
Two men accused of murdering six people in an execution-style rampage in Goshen earlier this year appeared in court Tuesday.
Although the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office has yet to say it will be prosecuted as a death penalty case, defense attorneys assume it will be.
The brief court hearing was the first time Noah Beard, 25, and Angel Uriarte, 35, have appeared in court together since their arrests. Both are charged with multiple homicides in the so-called “Goshen massacre.”
The six victims included a mother and her 10-month-old son. Chilling surveillance video shows Elyssa Parraz, 16, holding her child and running from a home as someone chases after her.
The two men were brought into court in Tulare County so Judge Jennifer Shirk could set a date for the preliminary hearing. They were placed far apart from each other by bailiffs. Both are being held without bail.
A preliminary hearing is now scheduled for Oct. 24.
“I’m setting aside two days” for the hearing, Shirk said. Evidence will be presented at the hearing and the judge is expected to set a trial date.
Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward has not said if he will seek the death penalty – such a decision is usually made later – but defense attorneys are expecting that.
Two attorneys – Eric Hamilton and Robert Bartlett – represented Beard on Tuesday. In a death penalty case, two lawyers are the norm. Hamilton and Bartlett are both experienced criminal defense attorneys and were brought in by the Tulare County Conflict Counsel, which has been assigned to represent Beard.
Uriarte is represented by attorney Jessica Gutierrez of Visalia.
When officers tried to arrest Uriarte at home in Visalia in early February, he ran out of the home and opened fire in the direction of an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent and was shot, officials said. Uriarte was hospitalized but is now in the county jail.
He has been charged in federal court with assault on a federal officer, the Visalia Times-Delta reported in March.
The Goshen homicides occurred Jan. 23 and gained national attention because the murders had the hallmarks of “cartel-like executions,” Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said at the time. Authorities believe the defendants and two of the victims have Norteño and Sureño gang ties, respectively, and that the massacre was part of a rivalry.
The slayings occurred in the middle of the night at a home in Goshen, a poor community next to Highway 99 south of Fresno and west of Visalia.
The oldest victim was a grandmother, Rosa Parraz, 72. Also slain were Eladio Parraz Jr., 52, Marcos Parraz, 19, and Jennifer Analla, 49.
Three others hid, authorities said. One hid inside the home and could hear gunfire up and down a hallway, while two others hid in a trailer on the property.
