DAVENPORT, Iowa — Luis Alberto Gomez-Rodriguez visited the Muscatine County Courthouse on Feb. 23, 2005, and asked for the location of Maria Antonia Rivero and Juan Sarol-Cepero’s rented home on the 1800 block of New Hampshire Street – approximately four hours before their murders, according to testimony from two Muscatine County employees at Gomez-Rodriguez’s double-murder trial Friday morning.

Two Iowa private investigators also testified that approximately a month before the murders, Gomez-Rodriguez had contacted both of them, asking if they could help him locate the native Cuban couple in southeast Iowa.

The prosecution called up 11 witnesses during Friday’s shortened court session at the Scott County Courthouse, including four Muscatine police officers, one Muscatine County sheriff deputy and two Davenport police officers.

Dozens of items found at the murder scene, including live and spent ammunition, a semi-automatic handgun with a silver barrel, revolvers, a flare gun, a duffle bag with various items and crime scene photographs taken the night of the murders, were admitted into evidence.

A videotape, obtained by the Muscatine County Attorney’s Office from a Quad-City television station, was shown to jurors and was the last item admitted as evidence Friday afternoon.

The videotape showed Gomez-Rodriguez talking about the murders on the way to his arraignment at the Muscatine County Courthouse on Feb. 24, 2005. It was broadcast in the Quad-City region only once.

Gomez-Rodriguez is charged with two counts of first-degree murder; charges he pleaded not guilty to. If convicted, the 40-year-old former Miami resident could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Murray Bell, Gomez-Rodriguez’s court-appointed attorney, has not yet made an opening statement or presented evidence on the behalf of his client, choosing to wait until assistant Muscatine County Attorneys Kerrie L. Snyder and Alan R. Ostergren finish presenting their case.

Seventh Judicial District Judge Bobbi M. Alpers adjourned court for the day at 3:55 p.m. Court will begin again at 9 a.m. Monday, Feb. 13.

New Hampshire search

In separate testimonies, Sarah Bodman and Kim Burkamper, employees at the Muscatine County recorder’s office, told jurors that they met Gomez-Rodriguez at the Muscatine County Courthouse around 1 p.m. on Feb. 23, 2005.

Bodman, who was on break and standing outside of the courthouse building, said that Gomez-Rodriguez asked her for directions to the recorder’s office.

“When I returned from break, I saw him in our office,” she told Snyder. “He asked who owned property on New Hampshire Street.”

Bodman wrote the Lone Tree address of Tom and Terri Bell, the owners of 1808 New Hampshire St., on a green sticky note and gave it to Gomez-Rodriguez. The note was later recovered in his possessions.

Burkamper told Snyder that she was about to leave the office to go to lunch when Gomez-Rodriguez walked in.

“He had a Muscatine phone book in his hand and was pointing to a street on a map,” she said. “He asked what street that was.”

Burkamper told him that it was New Hampshire Street.

During their conversations, Bodman and Burkamper testified that Gomez-Rodriguez spoke in English.

Both women said that they were off-duty the next day and were not aware of the possible connection of their meetings until returning back to work on Friday. They were both interviewed by law enforcement officers at that time.

P.I.’s testify

Rodney Hulen and Thomas Breese, local private investigators, testified that Gomez-Rodriguez had contacted both of them, asking if they could locate Rivero and Sarol-Cepero and offering to pay for their services.

Hulen said that on Jan. 14, 2005, Gomez-Rodriguez visited his Ottumwa office. He had no prior appointment, the investigator told Snyder.

“He mentioned Maria as an ex-girlfriend,” Hulen said. “He told me that he remodeled houses.”

Gomez-Rodriguez said that he had made a business trip to California, returned, and found out that Maria was gone, according to Hulen.

Cash in the amount of $125,000 and furniture were also missing, Gomez-Rodriguez told Hulen.

“He wanted Maria located and wanted to retrieve his cash and belongings,” said Hulen.

To help Hulen’s search, Gomez-Rodriguez provided him with documents that included driver licenses, motor vehicle information, a cell phone number and two addresses in Ottumwa.

Hulen said that Gomez-Rodriguez paid him $200 cash up front with the balance of his fee due when Rivero and Sarol-Cepero were found.

Under questioning, Hulen, who doesn’t speak Spanish, told prosecutors that he spoke to Gomez-Rodriguez in English and had no problems understanding him.

Hulen found out that Rivero and Sarol-Cepero had already left Ottumwa and began looking for the couple at local motels throughout Jefferson, Davis and Henry counties. He also looked for them in the cities of Fairfield, Bloomfield and Mount Pleasant.

“I never found them,” Hulen testified.

In later phone conversations, Hulen told Gomez-Rodriguez about his fruitless search, offering to extend the search to Columbus Junction and Muscatine.

But Hulen never carried out his offer because Gomez-Rodriguez had run out of money to pay him, he testified.

Hulen told jurors that his last contact with Gomez-Rodriguez was on Jan. 27, 2005.

A nervous client

Breese, whose office is located in Iowa City, said he met with Gomez-Rodriguez on Feb. 21, 2005, two days before the murders.

“He called me on the phone, wanting an appointment and twenty minutes later, he was there,” Breese said.

Gomez-Rodriguez brought a lot of documents to the office, Breese told jurors.

“There were motor vehicle and driving records, some cell phone records,” he recalled. The phone records were from Sarol-Cepero’s cell phone.

Breese said that, as a private investigator, obtaining phone records was illegal.

Gomez-Rodriguez even showed Breese his own criminal background records, which were clean, the investigator said.

Gomez-Rodriguez told a similar story to Breese about why he wanted to retain his services.

“He told me that he was living with a lady in Mississippi, then they moved to Florida,” Breese told jurors. “They sold their house for a large profit.”

After making a business trip to California, Gomez-Rodriguez told Breese that he returned to Florida, found out that Maria had left town with Julio and the money he and Maria had saved was gone.

“He [Gomez-Rodriguez] seemed nervous, he kept sitting on the edge of the chair,” Breese recalled.

Growing suspicious, Breese told Gomez-Rodriguez that he was busy and wouldn’t be able to look at his case for a couple of days.

“I already decided that I wasn’t gonna take his case,” Breese explained to Snyder.

However, two days later, on Feb. 23, 2005, Breese got a phone call from Gomez-Rodriguez concerning the couple.

“He left a message for me and as soon as I finished listening to it, he called me again,” Breese said.

“He told me that he had already found them and wouldn’t need my services.”

Contact Stephen Byrd at 563-263-2331, Ext. 320 or Stephen.Byrd@muscatinejournal.com