GUILTY CA - Gianni, 24, & Sal Belvedere, 22, Ilona Flint, 22, San Diego, 24 Dec 2013 - #2

[Curious Me]

News10 reported that on CM's cell phone calendar for that day it said R.I.P.

His computer showed searches for movies playing that had to do with hit men or assassins.

 

[jash]

Gianni was shot in the left side of his head, as if he was shot through the driver side window, similar to Sal. But there is a huge pool of blood found on the passenger seat of Gianni's vehicle. The cops think he was shot and the pushed over to the passenger side so his head wound was bleeding on the passenger seat. Then, later he was moved to the trunk. IMO the clothing could have been scrunched up while the body was being moved, but other I have spoken to disagree with me. There is no indication that Gianni was sexually assaulted from what I have heard. Gianni's cell phone was pining around Mission Valley mall between 2328 and 2343 hours, according to the search warrant. Then his phone gets shut off.

Also in court today, prosecutors revealed CM did not own the White Ford Explorer at the time of the murders. He purchased the vehicle on Jan 11 from a RIVERSIDE woman who advertised it on Craigslist. The woman lived four blocks from where Gianni's vehicle/body were found, according to court testimony today.

Whoa -- thanks for sharing all that!

 

[Curious Me]

Gee, he looks like such a quiet guy.

Carlo Mercado ordered to stand trial in deaths of Ilona Flint, Salvatore and Gianni Belvedere
Posted: 3:01 PM, Sep 3, 2014
Updated: 3 mins ago
http://www.10news.com/news/carlo-me...a-flint-salvatore-and-gianni-belvedere-090314

"Guns play a very big role in his (Mercado's) life," the prosecutor told the judge."

"Mercado used the password "assassin" to sync his cellphone to his computer and had saved on his "favorites" a list of the top 50 assassin movies, Erickson said."

BBM

 

[mrsobrien]

Oh wow... First, that's horribly incriminating. Good luck to the defense with that bit, lol. Second, CM must have REALLY thought he wouldn't be suspected at all. Who doesn't know that phones and computers are transparent to investigators?! He's either completely ignorant, or just plain sociopathic.

News10 reported that on CM's cell phone calendar for that day it said R.I.P.

His computer showed searches for movies playing that had to do with hit men or assassins.

 

[mrsobrien]

Yeah...I'm about to Google the top 50 assassin movies list. I bet his MO is in one of those films. :-O

Eta--- a few lists - top 50 assassin movies
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls003091726/
http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-assassin-movies
http://www.flickchart.com/Charts.aspx?genre=Hitman+/+Assassin+Film&perpage=50

 

[jash]

I'm bringing forward this snippet from an article that was written last June when CM was arrested.

"A friend of the Belvedere family told 10News a resident of the home where Mercado was arrested knows relatives of Sal and Gianni, but it is unclear if the Belvedere brothers knew the suspect."

http://www.10news.com/news/man-arrested-in-connection-with-mission-valley-mall-shootings-06212014

 

[Curious Me]

There's been a huge water main break here in San Diego. The news is covering that more right now. Here's the RIP calendar entry. Wow, it's important info, IMO.

Man accused in triple murder ordered to stand trial
http://www.cbs8.com/story/26440273/man-accused-in-triple-murder-ordered-to-stand-trial

"Erickson alleged that on the day of the shootings, Mercado used his cell phone to search for information on the Mission Valley Mall shootings. Also on Mercado's cell phone, investigators found a calendar entry that read "R.I.P." for the day of Dec. 24, the day of the murders."

BBM

 

[Barbarella]

The story on news 8 says that Gibson acknowledged that his client was involved in some way in Gianni Belvedere's death, but told the judge it was "frightening" to think that Mercado faced a possible death sentence with the evidence presented regarding the other two killings. See link below:

http://www.cbs8.com/story/26440273/more-evidence-revealed-in-triple-murder-hearing

So basically the defense attorney and CM are admitting he was involved at least in "some way". I think this man was definitely a hired assassin. This is just sickening.

 

[mrsobrien]

Small thought... That must have been a really effective silencer if shots were not heard on the phone when fired at point blank range. I've never been in the presence of a silenced gun, I always thought they made a sound like in movies.

 

[inkpink]

Sorry to jump in here, I've been following mostly silently from the sidelines...
I think CM already intercepted Gianni before midnight, and went back to tail Ilona. It seems obvious that Ilona didn't know CM when he asked her for 'fake' directions in the mall correct?
What was Gianna wearing again that night? Sorry, I don't remember (per the witnesses claiming he was the shooter)? And, Gianni was found with the same clothes in the trunk.
This is just so horrible all the way around.
p.s. how much does '2 grams of heroin' cost (per the drug deal at 7 pm that night).
Back to my lurk corner...

I too have been lurking...........But, I have had a thought!

What if Ilona became aware that CM was stalking her and called Gianni who came prior to Ilona finishing work to confront CM. Gianni may have lured CM to his car, things get ugly, tables are turned and Gianni ends up dead. CM now needs to dispose of Ilona as she would probably guess what had happened hence them ringing the jails and hospitals to try to locate him. Sal got in the way as he was there to pick up Ilona. I think CM for whatever reason had planned on doing something to Ilona that night.

 

[mrsobrien]

I don't believe a real 'pro' would log the date of a planned murder on his phone calendar, save a list of assassin movies on his browser, or use 'assassin' as a password. It's just a ridiculously asinine thing to do if you don't want to get caught. Jmo.

The story on news 8 says that Gibson acknowledged that his client was involved in some way in Gianni Belvedere's death, but told the judge it was "frightening" to think that Mercado faced a possible death sentence with the evidence presented regarding the other two killings. See link below:

http://www.cbs8.com/story/26440273/more-evidence-revealed-in-triple-murder-hearing

So basically the defense attorney and CM are admitting he was involved at least in "some way". I think this man was definitely a hired assassin. This is just sickening.

 

[Curious Me]

Just collecting news articles to share for further reading.

Trial ordered in Christmas Eve mall slayings
No motive revealed in the slayings of 2 brothers, a fiancee
Sept. 3, 2014Updated2:58 p.m.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/sep/03/police-search-warrant-triple-murder-case-dna/

"Norris wrote in the document that investigators believe Gianni Belvedere, 24, arrived at Westfield Mission Valley mall on Dec. 23 about 11:30 p.m. to pick up his fiancee, Flint, from work. She worked at a shoe store in the mall, which was open late because of the holiday season."

"About five minutes later, a conversation he was having with a relative on his cellphone was “unexpectedly interrupted” and the call was disconnected. The phone was then turned off."

BBM

 

[jash]

There's been a huge water main break here in San Diego. The news is covering that more right now. Here's the RIP calendar entry. Wow, it's important info, IMO.

Man accused in triple murder ordered to stand trial
http://www.cbs8.com/story/26440273/man-accused-in-triple-murder-ordered-to-stand-trial

"Erickson alleged that on the day of the shootings, Mercado used his cell phone to search for information on the Mission Valley Mall shootings. Also on Mercado's cell phone, investigators found a calendar entry that read "R.I.P." for the day of Dec. 24, the day of the murders."

BBM

I wonder if he ever stumbled onto our humble threads here. And R.I.P. strikes me as a weird sentiment for someone fancying themselves an assassin.

 

[Curious Me]

Small thought... That must have been a really effective silencer if shots were not heard on the phone when fired at point blank range. I've never been in the presence of a silenced gun, I always thought they made a sound like in movies.

I thought the same thing. Couldn't hear it at all on the phone call.

I heard something about a homemade silencer made out of PVC pipe and painted black, but I'm not sure his was homemade.

 

[tvscum]

It would be interesting to know how much was paid for the Ford Explorer and where did he get the money from. I'd also be willing to bet that Jan. 11th was when he drove Gianni's car with him in it to Riverside. The Explorer was his ride back to SD area.

I believe they are saying that an additional 30 some search warrants should be released about 5:00 PM tonite.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/26440273/more-evidence-revealed-in-triple-murder-hearing

JMO

The alleged drug dealer told the cops she was selling Gianni heroin at $60 per gram and she sold him about $250 per day. There are 35 sealed search warrants that will now be released tomorrow morning. Some of these warrants will deal with "false leads" investigations conducted before Mercado was on the radar.

2300 hrs = 11:00 p.m. Thank You for your posts.

So, what time did the witnesses see who they later thought was Gianni walk away from the car? Also, I think LE said his car was seen driving westbound after the shootings. Was CM driving it?

Can you tell I'm still confused?

BBM

Some of this information is in the warrant:
http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/kfmb/misc/mercado_warrant.pdf

The witnesses got off work at 1:10 a.m. The two females both owned Honda Civics. They got into one of the Civics and both drove together to the other Civic, which was parked next to the Toyota where Sal and Ilona had already been shot. They reported seeing a man -- from behind -- walking away from the vehicle. They initially thought the man got into a "waiting" Honda Civic, so they believed he got into the passenger side and another person may have been driving. It sounded like they could not be sure, though, on whether there was one or two people in the shooter's Civic. Two days later, they saw Gianni's photo on the news and they called detectives to report that they believed Gianni was the man they had seen get into the Civic. Prosecutors now believe these two witnesses are mistaken, and they simply saw the photo on the news and assumed it was the same man. The defense, however, is jumping all over this angle.

Today in court, testimony revealed that CM's brother-in-law owns a dark Civic that CM sometimes drove at the time. The brother in law was unsure if CM drove his Civic on Dec. 23 or 24.

Sorry to jump in here, I've been following mostly silently from the sidelines...
I think CM already intercepted Gianni before midnight, and went back to tail Ilona. It seems obvious that Ilona didn't know CM when he asked her for 'fake' directions in the mall correct?
What was Gianna wearing again that night? Sorry, I don't remember (per the witnesses claiming he was the shooter)? And, Gianni was found with the same clothes in the trunk.
This is just so horrible all the way around.
p.s. how much does '2 grams of heroin' cost (per the drug deal at 7 pm that night).
Back to my lurk corner...

Gianni was seen in an ATM video withdrawing money earlier in the evening on Dec. 23. He was wearing no hat and a "hoodie" sweat shirt, according to court testimony. As I recall he was also wearing a t-shirt, possibly yellow, I can't recall. These are the same clothes he was found wearing a month later when his body was found.

Yeah...I'm about to Google the top 50 assassin movies list. I bet his MO is in one of those films. :-O

Eta--- a few lists - top 50 assassin movies
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls003091726/
http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-assassin-movies
http://www.flickchart.com/Charts.aspx?genre=Hitman+/+Assassin+Film&perpage=50

It was imdb that CM had bookmarked on his computer, supposedly a imdb page that listed "Best 50 Assassin Movies" ... your link may be the actual page:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls003091726/

 

[mrsobrien]

I don't see why not, he was obviously very careless on the interwebs.
Here's the part where we feel awkward about our own internet activity. *isearchscarythings*

I wonder if he ever stumbled onto our humble threads here. And R.I.P. strikes me as a weird sentiment for someone fancying themselves an assassin.

 

[tvscum]

Question for which I have no answers:

If CM was stalking Ilona, wouldn't he have viewed her facebook page with her photos? Her page is public. The cops never found a trace of Ilona on CM's computer.

If CM was a hired gun, why would he enter RIP in the calendar if his phone? Why was there no evidence of hit money being deposited into his bank account?

Why have the cops been unable to find any connection whatsoever between CM and the victims? No cell phone connections. No contact connections. No mutual friends.

Is CM just a random psycho? If so, he still must have known Gianni was picking up Ilona and he must have had access to know that pick-up routine.

Even the DA has no clear motive (and they don't need one).

 

[jash]

This is the first I'm hearing of this... not sure if it's bad reporting.

In Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors played Flint’s 911 call. On it, she’s heard saying, “We’ve been shot twice.”" http://www.10news.com/news/911-call-weve-been-shot-twice

Also found this interesting:
[JY] of the Department of Homeland Security testified that Mercado was "drained of emotion" and couldn't explain where he was going when agents at the checkpoint interviewed him. [JY] said he and another agent contacted Mercado's family to make sure they were safe and to find out about the defendant's "odd" behavior.

 

[mrsobrien]

Very interesting. I wonder if CM is being considered in any other unsolved crimes in addition to this one. This stop was January 19th, right? That's nearly a month after the mall shooting. I can't imagine why he would be drained a month later. Maybe drugs for him too? Could explain his hospital stay right after arrest.

This is the first I'm hearing of this... not sure if it's bad reporting.

In Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors played Flint’s 911 call. On it, she’s heard saying, “We’ve been shot twice.”" http://www.10news.com/news/911-call-weve-been-shot-twice

Also found this interesting:
[JY] of the Department of Homeland Security testified that Mercado was "drained of emotion" and couldn't explain where he was going when agents at the checkpoint interviewed him. [JY] said he and another agent contacted Mercado's family to make sure they were safe and to find out about the defendant's "odd" behavior.

 

[tvscum]

This is the first I'm hearing of this... not sure if it's bad reporting.

In Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors played Flint’s 911 call. On it, she’s heard saying, “We’ve been shot twice.”" http://www.10news.com/news/911-call-weve-been-shot-twice

That is shoddy reporting. This is the official transcript that the DA is using:

911: 911 Emergency. What are you reporting?
FLINT: Hi. I'm at the West....Mission Valley.....Ow!.....Ow!.....Ow!......Ow! I think I've been shot!.....I've been shot.......
911: .....Where are you?
FLINT: .....I've been shot!......at the Mission Valley Westfield Mall.....
911: Mission Valley Mall?......Hello?.....Hello?......Hello?.....Hello?