In August, Marie Louise J., 39, her husband Mark, 40, and their two children, Tenisha and Mark jr, both of whom were young adults, resided Ceres. The family owned two businesses, one in Oakdale and the other a limousine service that they ran from an office situated between their house and shop. At approximately 3:30 a.m. on August 13, Mark jr was in the family room, awake, when he heard the outside door in his bedroom open, then saw some flashlights and three people. He pretended to be asleep, but one of the intruders came over to him, said he had been watching and knew he was not asleep, and told him to get up. Mark jr was then struck on the back of his head with something hard and went to the floor. Another intruder, who had a gun and was dressed all in black, went to the master bedroom, where Mrs. Joiner and Mr. Joiner were sleeping. Mrs. Joiner, who was dressed only in her bra and panties, was awakened by the intruder shining a flashlight in her eyes and telling the couple to get out of bed. When Mr. Joiner turned, the man hit him over the head with a gun, drawing blood, and then put the weapon to Mr. Joiner’s head. Towels were placed over the couple’s heads, and they were led to the room where Mark jr was. As she passed the room of Tenisha, who was seven and a half months pregnant, Mrs. Joiner looked in and saw another intruder, also dressed completely in black, getting the young woman out of bed. This person had a flashlight and a gun. All told, there were three intruders in the home; all wore black boots and full masks over their heads. The masks had eye holes. Once in the living room, Mrs. Joiner sat down on the floor. Her son was going to the floor as a man hit him on the head with a handgun. The intruders then threw a blanket over him.
Mr. Joiner was also in the living room, and then Tenisha was brought in. Tenisha lay on the floor as she was told, then a gun was placed to her temple and she was told that if she moved, the intruder-who used a racial slur in referring to her-would shoot her. A blanket was placed over her head and her wrists and ankles were bound with phone cord wire. Mark jr was also bound with some sort of wire at the ankles and wrists. During the incident, Tenisha saw two guns, both handguns. Mark jr also saw two guns, at least one of which was a handgun. Mrs. Joiner was situated facedown on the living room floor. She was bound at the wrists and ankles with telephone cords and her head was covered. Someone ripped two rings from her fingers.
Although Mrs. Joiner was unsure whether this person was wearing gloves, she believed, based on his accent, that the man who was with her most of the night was Hispanic. One of the intruders, who was wearing gloves, took Mr. Joiner’s wedding ring. Mr. Joiner was facedown on the floor. His wrists were bound with electrical cords from appliances in the house and his head was covered with something.One of the intruders wanted to know the location of the money and valuables. Someone held a gun to Mr. Joiner’s head and said they would blow it off if he did not tell them where everything was. Mr. Joiner heard the gun click several times while it was held to the back of his head. Mr. Joiner took them to the bedroom and showed them where the jewelry and guns were. The intruder then returned Mr. Joiner to the other room and laid him back down.
At some point, one of the intruders said the family did not grow up like he did and were not raised on chitlings. Mr. Joiner also heard what sounded to him like gang talk. When the intruders walked past him, they kicked him in the head three times and once in the side. At least one was wearing black boots. The Hispanic-sounding man told Mrs. Joiner that her story about where the money was at had better match her husband’s. He untied her and took her to open the safe, which was in the weight room. He then took her to the office, where a money box was kept. At some point, another intruder joined them. Mrs. Joiner opened the money box, which contained $34, whereupon the intruder she believed was Hispanic cut off her panties and undid her bra. She fell to the floor and he started asking her questions about whether she had ever cheated on her husband and how old her children were. Hoping they would leave, she told them that she had a limousine driver who was due. She could tell, from the tones of voice, that they were angry she had no money. Although she no longer had a towel over her head, she did not look at the intruders because she was afraid if she did so, they would kill her.
The intruders took Mrs. Joiner back into the living room. The Hispanic one started rubbing her big breasts and asking if they were real. Next, he tied her back up, facedown,although he did not retie her feet. He then stuck the gun in her vagina and told her husband he would “‘blow her up’” if Mr. Joiner did not tell him where the money was. Mrs. Joiner screamed, and the intruder removed the gun from her vagina and put it toward her posterior, although the gun did not actually penetrate her anus. He then untied her again and stood her up. He told Mr. Joiner that he was going to take her with him, and he put her over his shoulders and carried her outside.The Hispanic intruder took Mrs. Joiner to the deck, where there was a hot tub. From things he said to her, such as accusing her of being prejudiced, she believed he was trying to make her think he was African-American. He wanted to know where the money was and twice stuck her head underwater in the hot tub.
While this was going on, Mr. Joiner was brought out to the hot tub. He had been kicked in the head a few times and was bleeding. The intruders demanded to know where more money was at, but there was no more money. One intruder held him by the back of his neck and tried to dunk him, but Mr. Joiner resisted. He then let his head be dunked in order to avoid a beating. Mr. Joiner managed to free his hands and straighten up, but one of the intruders punched him in the side of the face and the intruder who was with Mrs. Joiner pointed what looked like it might be a black nine-millimeter semiautomatic at Mr. Joiner’s face. Mr. Joiner capitulated and his hands were retied.
At one point, an intruder grabbed Mr. Joiner’s head, which was bleeding, and asked Mrs. Joiner, “ ‘Is this your husband?’” She said yes. An intruder dunked Mrs. Joiner’s head one more time, then the couple was taken back into the house. Mrs. Joiner was not retied. Her head was shoved down into the love seat so that her naked posterior stuck up in the air. Every time she tried to sit down, an intruder would put her back up. At one point, two of the intruders were laughing and one of them pantomimed having sex with her. A dildo was thrown at her, and the Hispanic intruder told her to use it. When she did not want to touch it, the two intruders moved her into Tenisha’s room, where they placed her on the bed, face up. One of them put a pillow over her face. They encouraged her to use the dildo on herself, then one of them inserted it into her vagina himself and moved it in and out. At the same time, the first one fondled her genitals with his hand. When the intruder placed the dildo against her posterior, she said that there was something wrong with her. They stopped at that point and tied her up in the living room again.
At some point after the hot tub incident, one of the intruders received what sounded like a call ona cell phone. He spoke to someone, but Mrs. Joiner could not tell what he said. When the intruders left, they used the back door, which was in Mark jr’s room. All told, they were in the house some 45 minutes to an hour, during which timethey ransacked the family’s belongings.