On June 5, about 3 p.m., Judy N. was driving eastbound in her car on highway 50, a freeway in Sacramento. Pedro A., driving his brown car, came into her lane from the right and bumped the right front fender of Judy’s car. She signalled Pedro to pull over, and they both parked on the shoulder just west of the 51st Street overpass. After they inspected the minor damage, Pedro advised that he had no insurance. Judy suggested they exchange names and telephone numbers. She reentered her car to obtain writing paper and a pen. She offered him the pen, which he refused. She then used the pen to write her own name and telephone number, as well as the license number of Pedro’s car. She tore off the license number and began to hand Pedro the remainder of the paper. As she did so, he reached in the driver’s window and wadded up the paper. Startled, she looked up to see him pointing a revolver at her. Pedro demanded Judy’s purse and wallet. She said she had only 23 cents with her and opened her wallet to show that it contained no cash. Pedro asked if she had ATM cards, and she acknowledged that she did. She then complied with Pedro’s instructions to bring her purse and wallet, follow him, and get into the passenger seat of the man’s car. Pedro entered the driver’s side and placed the gun in his lap, pointed at her. He asked the location of the nearest machine that would accept her ATM card. She mentioned the “college campus” nearby and said she would try to direct him from the next freeway exit, at 59th Street.
Pedro began to drive, meantime instructing Judy to remove all her clothing below her waist. He said this was to keep her from trying to get away. She took off her shoes, jeans, pantyhose, and underpants. Pedro left highway 50 at the 59th Street exit, but then doubled back westbound on S Street, which runs parallel to the south side of the freeway. Near the intersection with 55th Street, Pedro parked and told Judy they were going to return to her car. At his direction, she put her jeans and shoes back on, and Pedro put her underpants in his pocket. The two then climbed over a chain link fence and clambered down a steep embankment to the freeway. Eventually they arrived on foot at her vehicle. Pedro directed Judy to get behind the wheel, again remove her jeans and shoes, and begin driving. She did so. He asked about her husband and children, the family’s financial status, and their credit and ATM cards. Because she feared for their safety, she told Pedro falsely that she had no children. She also advised, among other things, that she and her husband had ATM cards for Golden One Credit Union and Sacramento Savings. Pedro said:
“We’ll go to the Golden One. I know where there’s a Golden One.”
He began to direct her, by freeway and surface road, in a southwesterly direction through Sacramento. As they drove, Pedro demanded Judy’s watch and wedding ring. She handed them over.Pedro pulled out her underpants, began to fondle them, and asked questions about her sex life. At length, he held the gun on her and said:
“I want you to play with yourself like you’ve never done before.”
At his direction, she inserted her finger in her pussy. Pedro then reached over and inserted his own finger in her vaginal opening. While they were en route, they passed a number of police cars, and this caused Pedro to become more and more agitated. On several occasions, he advised Judy to drive carefully and avoid attracting attention. Each time, he warned that he had killed before, and it would not bother him to kill again. He indicated that the killing had occurred about two weeks before, and he asked if she had read about it in the newspaper.
At length, they were travelling westbound on Florin Road, and they seemed to be headed toward the Golden One branch at Florin Road and interstate 5. Before they reached that location, however,
Pedro instructed Judy to turn left. She said:
“I thought we were going to the credit union.”
“We’ll get there.” Pedro replied with a smirk.
Eventually they crossed the Sacramento River into Yolo County. In a rural area, they left the paved highway and travelled on a dirt road. Finally they arrived at an isolated clearing.
At Pedro’s direction, Judy got out, went to the back of the car, placed her hands on the bumper, and leaned over. Pedro pulled down his pants and pressed his cock against her asshole. He then told her to take off the rest of her clothes. She did so, dislodging an earring in the process. When Judy was totally naked, Pedro said:
“Have you ever sucked? Well, you’re going to, now. Come here.”
He pushed her head down, causing his cock to penetrate her mouth. He continued to push on her head, saying:
“Move. Move harder.”
Pedro next directed Judy back into some trees where there was another clearing. He said:
“Now, we’re going to do it doggy style.”
At his direction, she got down on her hands and knees on his T-shirt. Pedro knelt behind her and remarked:
“Nice white ass.”
Again he pressed his cock against her asshole. Then he pushed his cock into her cunt. Pedro eventually withdrew and said he wanted a blanket. Judy told him there was one in the back of her car. He returned with the blanket and spread it on the ground. At his direction, she lay down on the blanket, whereupon he entered her cunt with his cock a second time. During this fuck, Pedro thrust hard and bit her breast. Pedro and Judy then returned to her car. Pedro opened the trunk, got out her purse, and removed ATM cards for two different Golden One accounts. At his direction, she told him the personal identification numbers for these cards, and he wrote the numbers down. He then tied her hands with his belt and put a gag in her mouth. Displaying the gun, he ordered her into the trunk. From inside the trunk, Judy felt the car return to the paved road, recross the bridge into Sacramento County, and continue. After awhile, the car stopped for several minutes, than began moving again. When it stopped a second time, Pedro got out and opened the trunk. They were back in Yolo County, at the isolated clearing where the sex had occurred. Pedro ordered Judy out of the trunk and untied her hands. At his direction, she put her T-shirt back on and got behind the wheel. He told her to remove the gag. In doing so, she dislodged her other earring. Judy then began driving back toward Sacramento, as Pedro instructed. Before they reached the bridge, he ordered her to stop on the shoulder. He said he had already gotten money from one of her ATM cards, and he showed her the receipt, but he seemed frustrated at some aspect of the transaction. He asked where her Sacramento Savings card was. She said it had been on the passenger seat when their collision occurred and must have fallen on the floor of the car. At his direction, she put her jeans back on, searched for the card, and found it. He asked how much money he could get with this card, and she said $900. Pedro began looking through Judy’s purse, then noticed she was wearing a gold necklace with a Disneyland pendant. He told her to take off the necklace and put it around his neck. Her hands trembled, however, and she could not work the clasp. Pedro unfastened the necklace himself.
Pedro ordered Judy to remove her jeans again and resume driving. As they proceeded, he turned his attention once more to her purse and wallet. Finding photographs of her children, he angrily reminded her that she had claimed to be childless. She told him the pictures were of her nieces and nephews. Pedro responded:
“If you’re lying to me, I’ll blow you away, right now. Don’t lie to me. If I find somewhere on these pictures that says ‘Mom’ anywhere, you’re dead.”
Pedro also became angry when he found a $20 bill tucked in a side pocket of her wallet. She told him truthfully that she had forgotten about the bill. Pedro took it. Pedro directed Judy to the Golden One branch located in a shopping center at Mack Road and Franklin Boulevard in Sacramento. He ordered her to park and wait. He cradled the revolver in his left arm and draped his T-shirt over it. He then emerged from the car and got into the ATM line.
Judy noticed a security guard and sensed a chance to escape. Still naked from the waist down, she snatched her jeans, got out of the car, pointed to Pedro, and shouted that he had a gun. She then ran into a nearby hardware store.