Witness, orange peel trail lead to murder trial Witness, orange peel trail lead to murder trial (September 03, 2004)

Three suspects in Condon killing will face charges this fall

By Jon Wiener

Three San Jose men will stand trial for the October murder of 77-year-old Doris "Dottie" Condon, after a judge found sufficient evidence in a preliminary hearing last week.

Andres Arranillo, a gardener, identified David Olayo and Enrique Chavez as the two men he saw entering Condon's Jardin Avenue home on the afternoon of Oct. 25. He said a third man, whom he identified as Jose Sosa, was waiting in a nearby car.

The prosecution said that plans by Chavez and Olayo to break in and burglarize the house went awry when they encountered Condon, who was still at home. Chavez beat her in order to prevent her from calling the police while they escaped, according to his statement to police. Condon, who was left unconscious, died from her injuries about a month later.

Olayo had previously been in the house while accompanying Lilia Olayo, his sister, who worked as a housecleaner. Testifying for the prosecution, she said she still works for Condon's live-in companion Des Telmond.

In addition, Deputy District Attorney Dan Fehderau said that pieces of orange peel formed a trail near the getaway car that was allegedly parked in the driveway of Condon's home. Police officers alsofound a section of orange inside her bedroom, with DNA matching Olayo's.

"He left his DNA behind," said Fehderau.

Mountain View Police Detective Jessica Serb said an anonymous tipster led police to the suspects, who were reportedly boasting of the crime.

"We received hundreds of leads. There were 'suspicious people' in the neighborhood all of the sudden. We looked into them for quite a while, and we did a lot of surveillance," she said.

Chavez was arrested on an unrelated stolen vehicle charge in San Jose on Dec. 3 and later turned over to Mountain View police. Within the next three days, officers also arrested Olayo and Sosa at their homes and completed their interrogation and analysis.

Santa Clara County Superior County Judge Paul Tiehl will set a trial date on Sept. 7. Fehderau said he expects the trial to begin by the first week in November.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.