A California jury on Monday found Jesse Alvarez guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend's fiancé, a San Diego Catholic schoolteacher, according to local reports.
Alvarez, 33, fatally shot Mario Fierro, 37, on the morning of Feb. 1, 2021, as he was leaving his North Park home to go to work.
Evidence prosecutors presented during Alvarez's trial included phrases that Alvarez searched on Google, including "how to kill your ex’s fiancé," "hire hitman san diego ca" and "how to delete Google search history," according to FOX 5 San Diego and The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Prosecutors said Alvarez killed Fierro – who had recently gotten engaged to Alvarez's ex-girlfriend, Amy Gembara– out of jealousy. Fierro and Gembara worked together at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego.
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Alvarez and Gambara were in a relationship for about three-and-a-half years.
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After they broke up, Alvarez stalked Gembara when she moved and changed her phone number, according to FOX 5.
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Alvarez's defense attorney, Peter Blair, told reporters that the defendant "tested very high on the Autism test," and there were "a ton of factors that prevented him from dealing with it properly," according to FOX 5.
The defendant took the stand during his trial and admitted to having an unhealthy obsession with Gembara and "having fantasies of wishing" her fiance "was gone or dead or just not there anymore."
Alvarez also testified that he was acting in self-defense. One of his Google search terms included "how to shoot someone in self-defense."
"He tried to seize the firearm from my hand. We were wrestling over it. And he started to point it toward my direction, and then he got his fingers around the trigger and he pulled it, and the gun discharged, and I turned to face him, and his back was to me. I shot him in the back," the defendant said.
But prosecutors argued Fierro had no idea Alvarez was lying in wait outside his home with a gun.
"Mr. Fierro had no idea the defendant was there.… He had no idea that the defendant waited almost an hour for him and watched him and waited right until [Fierro] had his back to him," San Diego Deputy District Attorney Ramona McCarthy said during her closing statements.
Alvarez is expected to return to court on May 10 for his sentencing. He faces life in prison.
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