The Hollister man convicted of receiving at least $30,000 to
murder a Gilroy restaurant owner was sentenced Thursday to life in
prison without the possibility of parole.
SANTA CLARA – The Hollister man convicted of receiving at least $30,000 to murder a Gilroy restaurant owner was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Gustavo Macias Covian, 40, arrived at a Santa Clara County courtroom dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and wearing the same sullen expression that remained on his face during Superior Court Judge Thomas C. Hastings’ reading of the life sentence.
On Feb. 11, following a two-week trial and nearly two days of deliberations, a jury found Covian guilty of killing 49-year-old Young Kim, the former Rancho Hills Drive resident who owned the Gavilan Restaurant at 6120 Monterey Road in Gilroy.
Kim was last seen in November 1998, and the prosecution said Kim’s wife and mother of his two children, Kyung Kim, paid Covian at least $30,000 to kill her husband. Kyung Kim waited 14 days before she reported her husband missing.
“Justice has been served,” said Young Kim’s sister, Chung Weber, from her home near San Diego after receiving the news of Covian’s sentence. Weber briefly testified for the prosecution in Covian’s trial.
“(Covian) is a danger to society and the community he lives in.” she said. “He belongs locked up. Me, my family and my brother are very happy with the outcome of this trial.”
Kyung Kim, Gustavo’s former wife Maria Covian and Gustavo’s younger brother Ignacio Covian are also charged with murder for their roles in the alleged contract-killing scheme. The three defendants will appear before a county judge in San Jose on Monday, at which time a date for their upcoming trial will likely be set.
Like Gustavo Covian, the three are charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances – meaning a contract was involved. All three face life in prison without chance for parole.
“There is difference evidence in both trials, so it is hard to compare which case is stronger,” said Deputy District Attorney Peter Waite this morning, who prosecuted Gustavo Covian and will prosecute the other three defendants in the case. “In (Gustavo’s) case we had a witness say (Gustavo) bragged to him about killing Mr. Kim; I don’t expect anything like that (in the upcoming case).”
That witness, Adrian Vizcaino, was recently paroled from San Benito County Jail for his testimony against Gustavo Covian.
Before his release, Vizcaino had 11 years left on his sentence for armed robbery. Waite promised Vizcaino parole if he gave truthful testimony at Gustavo Covian’s hearing; Vizcaino told the jury Gustavo Covian bragged to him about killing Young Kim and was taken by Gustavo Covian to Kim’s grave.
However, after many searches conducted by the Gilroy Police Department of the alleged Hollister burial site of Young Kim, no body was recovered. Police have also been unable to determine a homicide scene, and forensic evidence tests for hair, skin, clothing fibers and blood from a weapon seized from Covian’s Hollister home were all negative.
The jury’s conviction of Gustavo Covian despite a body or any forensic evidence caught the attention of many people in the local justice system, and following the verdict an elated Waite said it was “very uncommon” to get a murder conviction under such circumstances.
Gustavo Covian’s conviction is believed to make it much easier for Waite to prosecute the other three defendants.
But Gustavo Covian’s defense attorney Thomas Worthington warned this morning that at the very least his client’s conviction shouldn’t hurt the other defendants in the case. The others are represented by separate attorneys and are being held at Santa Clara County Jail without bail.
“Based on our investigation into this case, we’re convinced Ignacio Covian is innocent of the charges against him,” said Worthington, who earlier this week filed a conviction appeal for Gustavo Covian, although it likely won’t be reviewed for at least 18 months. “I’m hoping the outcome of (Ignacio Covian, Maria Covian and Kyung Kim’s trial) is different.”
