Alleged Murderer Killed, Robbed Before, Prosecution Says

The man who allegedly killed a Temecula liquor store clerk also killed a rival gang member a few months earlier, a prosecutor said today.

Marcus Fletcher, 27, of San Diego, faces charges of murder and attempted murder for killing Rafi Ibrahim, 34, of Temecula, and Kedran Howard, 23, an alleged San Diego gang member, in separate incidents in 2005.

Howard died of a gunshot wound to the head on a San Diego street in January. Ibrahim was shot to death where he worked at Rancho Liquor on Front Street in April 2005.

Temecula resident Dale Dante Thomas, 26, also faces murder charges for Ibrahim’s slaying.

The shooting in the liquor store started when Thomas went to San Diego, picked up Fletcher and brought him back to Temecula. Investigators were able to retrace Thomas’ movement because he was using his cell phone constantly, prosecutor Sam Kaloustian said. “Mr. Thomas had been planning an armed robbery at the liquor store or convenience store with Mr. Fletcher.”

They went to Rancho Liquor, and Howard used the business’ ATM machine while he cased the store around 7 p.m., Kaloustian said.

A masked gunman stormed into the store and demanded money at 9:20 p.m. This masked gunman was Fletcher, the prosecutor said.

During the holdup, a customer walked in. The gunman shot at him, and he dove.  The victim, Celesdino Olea, escaped injury, but Fletcher and Thomas face an attempted murder charge because of it.

Ibrahim tried to escape with a bag of money, but Fletcher shot several times in his side. “This man sitting in this courtroom is a callous murderer,” Kaloustian told a jury of 10 men and six women.

Ibrahim was a Catholic Iraqi who moved to the U.S. to escape religious repression, the prosecutor told the jury.

Fletcher and Thomas had a history of crime together, and one time committed three robberies in one day, Kaloustian said. One of those robberies – that of Go Go Liquor in San Diego – matched the Rancho Liquor robbery in every detail. “It was as though it was a blueprint for Rancho Robbery.”

Most of the evidence against Fletcher comes from the testimony of Thomas, who cut a plea deal during jury selection, said defense attorney Michael Duncan.

Thomas agreed to testify against Fletcher to avoid facing the death penalty, court records show.

“At the end of the day, it’s the bought and paid-for testimony of Dante Dale Thomas and the weight you decide to give it that decides this case,” the prosecutor told the jury.

The rest of the evidence is shaky, he said. The witness, Olea, failed to pick Fletcher out of a line-up. The ballistic evidence turned out inconclusive. The gun was never found, Duncan told the jury.

In fact, the whole robbery was Thomas’ idea. “It’s hard to call somebody a mastermind when he used his own ATM card in a robbery, but he organized it,” he said.

Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced Monday, according to court records.

Thomas had nothing to do with the shooting in San Diego, attorneys agreed.

The killing started on Jan. 25, 2005, when Fletcher stopped his car at a friend’s house, and several rival gang members walked up to his car and threatened him.

He drove away, but warned them he’d be back the next day. One of those gang members was shot in the head a day later, Kaloustian said.