A Hawaii court looked into a particularly sordid case on Monday involving a 26-year-old young man. Juan Tejedor Baron is accused of killing his 73-year-old lover at his Honolulu property in February 2022. Gary Ruby’s body was found cemented in a bathtub: his murderer had buried him alive in concrete. Last March, Juan Baron confessed to the facts and pleaded guilty, in exchange for which the prosecutor was not going to seek a sentence of more than 20 years in prison.
But the Colombian retracted his confession, claiming that he had misunderstood the terms of his arrangement with the prosecutor, due to the language barrier, explains the “Daily Mail”. At a hearing to determine whether Juan Baron’s guilty plea could be overturned, gruesome details of the case were discussed. “There is an inference that Gary was still alive when you poured the cement on him,” said assistant prosecutor Scott Bell.
Juan Tejedor Baron was arrested in March 2022 in California, a month after the murder, while trying to cross the Mexican border. The Colombian explained that he had sex with his lover Gary Ruby, after which the septuagenarian told him that he was HIV positive. Mad with rage, the young man then strangled his partner with a belt. He then dragged his victim’s body into a bathtub, before slashing his veins to make it appear like suicide, the suspect explained to investigators.
Then, the individual attempted to cover up the murder by pouring concrete found in the garage onto the victim’s body. Realizing he didn’t have enough to submerge the septuagenarian, Juan Baron went to a hardware store, bought four more bags of concrete and continued to fill the bathtub, thus covering the retiree, who was still envy. The young man eventually added coffee grounds, in an attempt to mask the smell of the decomposing body.
The hearing is scheduled to resume on December 23 and will notably include testimony from the accused’s former lawyers and his interpreter.
