Police testing revolver to determine if it was used in Morgan
Hill gang killing
A revolver found wrapped in a cloth in a creek may be the weapon used in the murder of Luis Santos Bautista, 19, of Gilroy during what was likely a gang retaliation in Morgan Hill on Sept. 30.
Children found the gun in the creek behind a residence in the 17500 block of Del Monte Ave. and handed it over to a resident living in the area, who turned it in to police.
“The weapon is a Colt .38 revolver,” Morgan Hill Police Cmdr. Terrie Booten said Friday. “We have sent it to the county crime lab for testing.”
Police found one round at the scene of the crime that matched another bullet taken from Bautista’s body during an autopsy.
“It matches a round retrieved from the body during the autopsy,” she said.
Police believe the murder weapon is either a .38 or .357 caliber revolver, but cannot link the revolver to the killing without ballistic evidence from the crime lab.
“It is possible this could be the weapon, but of course there’s no way we can say more than that until we have results from the tests,” Booten said.
Booten said it was not clear if the county’s lab has the equipment for ballistics testing. She said if the lab does not, the weapon would be sent to Sacramento to the Department of Justice for further testing.
Anthony James Frausto, 18, of Morgan Hill was arrested shortly after Bautista died from four gunshot wounds. Frausto turned himself in, he said, because he wanted to “clear his name” when he heard police were looking for him. He is being held in Santa Clara County Jail without bail.
Police are still searching for two suspects in the killing – two males, one possibly white and one possibly Hispanic, in their late teens or early 20s.
Frausto appeared in court for the second time on Tuesday, where the proceeding was continued until Friday morning due to a conflict with the public defender’s office. On Friday morning, the case was continued again, this time until Nov. 15 at 1:30pm, because attorney Andrew Tursi just received the case file and requested the continuance for study and discovery.
In the courtroom Friday were several supporters of Frausto, several young women wearing black ribbons embellished with Frausto’s name and the words, “We miss you.”
The Times has received several anonymous phone calls claiming Frausto is innocent, that he could not have shot Bautista as he was inside a van at the time the fight was going on and that Frausto is “taking the fall” for a “bigger player.”
MHPD Cmdr. Joe Sampson did not rule that scenario out, but said he believes police have arrested the correct suspect.
“Unfortunately, that is not uncommon in the gang community,” he said. “Right now, detectives are talking to many witnesses, and the witnesses may or may not be telling all that they know.”
Callers to The Times were referred to the police, but refused to identify themselves for fear of retaliation.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@mo*************.com.
