Rafiel Torre wegen Mordverdacht verhaftet

[BJJ Fighter]

Er war in beim ADCC und Kotc Kommentator- hat auch einmal dort gefightet und via Kneebar eindrucksvoll gewonnen.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~1835117,00.html

[maximus]

schlimme sache, noch schlimmer, dass mein freund und trainer gerald strebendt darin verwickelt ist, weil dieser typ nämlich sein onkel ist...

[collision_course]

Fiese Sache das...kenne den guten nur aus KOTC (interviewer), sein Kampf beim KOTC "wet and wild" war nicht gerade überzeugend, aber wenn er seinen Nebenbuhler "todchoken" kann, dann muss er ja doch'n As sein... :blume:

[BJJ Fighter]

Du fandest seinen Kampf nicht überzeugend? Ich will dir wirklich nicht zu Nahe treten- aber mir scheint, dass du von BJJ nicht viel verstehst- er hat den Kampf klassisch nach BJJ Art gewonnen. Position gesichert und submission geholt- oder hast du das nur geschrieben, um einen Gegensatz in deiner Aussage aufzubauen?!

[collision_course]

Du fandest seinen Kampf nicht überzeugend? Ich will dir wirklich nicht zu Nahe treten- aber mir scheint, dass du von BJJ nicht viel verstehst- er hat den Kampf klassisch nach BJJ Art gewonnen. Position gesichert und submission geholt- oder hast du das nur geschrieben, um einen Gegensatz in deiner Aussage aufzubauen?!



Hast recht, verstehe nichts von BJJ, trotzdem hat er gekämpft wie ein hysterisches Weib (als ob er 'ne Pallette RED BULL intus hatte)...gewonnen hat er natürlich trotzdem, ohne Frage...nur hat mich sein auftreten nicht überzeugt.
Hab den Schinken ja hier, werde ihn mir nochmal zu Gemüte führen, vielleicht klickt es ja dann doch noch bei mir....besser spät als nie ;)

[collision_course]

Hast recht, verstehe nichts von BJJ, trotzdem hat er gekämpft wie ein hysterisches Weib (als ob er 'ne Pallette RED BULL intus hatte)...gewonnen hat er natürlich trotzdem, ohne Frage...nur hat mich sein auftreten nicht überzeugt.
Hab den Schinken ja hier, werde ihn mir nochmal zu Gemüte führen, vielleicht klickt es ja dann doch noch bei mir....besser spät als nie ;)




Gesagt getan...na,ja...war'n solider Sieg über einen Typen mit 50 Tonnen Übergewicht der am Boden wie 'ne Schildkröte auf dem Rücken lag und den man nach belieben drehen oder wenden konnte....dazu noch der durchnässte Ringboden, der für Grappler wie gemacht war....na,ja...war'n schöner leglock...souverän gewonnen...haut mich trotzdem nicht um. :winke:

[BJJ Fighter]

War auch nicht der beste Kampf, den ich bisher gesehen hab- aber trotzdem absolut souverän...

[soares]

An affair police say led to murder
Rancho man was found dead in 2001

By ROD LEVEQUE, STAFF WRITER

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Rafiel Torre is a martial arts expert who has fought professional battles inside caged rings.

He trained with some of the best martial arts fighters in the world and is fluent in jujitsu, Thai boxing and other deadly hand-to-hand combat techniques.

He once wrestled a 300-pound man into submission in less than two minutes.

Detectives say he's also a murderer.

But it has taken them two years to amass enough evidence to finally charge him with the crime.

"He has been a suspect in the case since Day One," said Sgt. Tom Bradford of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's homicide detail. "But until now we haven't been able to pull the case together. It just wasn't there."

Torre was jailed Dec. 19 in connection with the murder of 32- year-old Bryan Richards, a Rancho Cucamonga resident who was found strangled to death in a supermarket parking lot Dec. 21, 2001.


Motive and means


Detectives have always suspected Torre, 39, because, they say, he had the motive and ability to kill Richards.

Torre's martial arts background undoubtedly gave him the skill to apply the sort of fatal chokehold that ended Richards' life.

And, they say, he was having an affair with Richards' wife, Angelina, who stood to receive $1 million as beneficiary of a life insurance policy if her husband met an untimely end.

"Our theory is that he killed Richards so they could maintain that love affair," Bradford said.

Richards was found dead in the bed of his own silver Chevy pickup truck in the parking lot of the Albertsons supermarket at Vineyard Avenue and Foothill Boulevard in Rancho Cucamonga.

His wife had reported him missing the day before, saying he left to pick up Christmas gifts for their two children and never returned to their Alta Loma home.

Bryan Richards and Torre knew each other and, by some accounts, were even friends. Angelina Richards introduced the two after meeting Torre at the Margaritaville night club.

Bryan Richards may have even agreed to help Torre open the Ground Zero Fighting Academy, a martial arts school on Arrow Route in Rancho Cucamonga, according to some who knew Richards.

Court records show that detectives suspected Richards was betrayed by his wife and Torre from the start, and questioned them about it repeatedly.

Both Angelina Richards and Torre eventually admitted the affair to police, but both emphatically denied any connection to the murder, leaving detectives with little hard evidence to support their hunches, court records show.


Finally, a break


Detectives say they finally received a break in the case just last September, when another professional martial arts fighter came forward with a shocking story and evidence that further linked Torre to the crime.

That man, Gerald Strebendt, told detectives that Torre had offered to pay him $10,000 to kill Richards in 2001, according to detectives and court records.

Strebendt told detectives he refused the proposition.

However, he did provide detectives with a handgun that belonged to Richards that had disappeared around the time of the man's death.

Strebendt told detectives that Torre had given him the gun and admitted to the killing and had asked him to provide an alibi if he was ever arrested.

Bradford would not say what prompted Strebendt to come forward after two years, but said detectives believe his story.

"He's not a suspect," Bradford said. "He's considered a witness in the case."

Bradford said the new evidence provided by Strebendt helped revive the aging investigation and led to a chain of new information that finally gave them enough evidence to support arresting Torre.

They say the evidence provided by Strebendt also strengthened their suspicions that Angelina Richards may also have been involved in a plot to have her husband killed.

Bradford said detectives are still investigating whether she had any role in the slaying, although she has not been charged with any crimes.

"She is a suspect," Bradford said. "We're still working to determine her involvement and knowledge."

Angelina Richards could not be reached for comment.

Torre has pleaded not guilty in West Valley Superior Court to a charge of murder and an allegation that he committed the crime for financial gain.

The allegation could bring him the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

His attorney, Anthony Robusto, said last week that Torre insists he did not kill Richards.

Robusto said Torre cooperated with detectives during the two-year investigation and that Torre has known for some time that police considered him a suspect. The attorney said Torre could easily have fled the area and avoided detectives if he believed he had done something wrong.

"He's indicated definitively that he's not the person who did this to Mr. Richards," Robusto said. "He says he had no involvement. None."

Robusto declined to comment on the evidence that has surfaced against Torre, saying his client looks forward to letting a jury decide those issues.


Subculture climber


Torre became well-known in the martial arts subculture as both a fighter and a journalist.

He emerged on the scene more than five years ago as a writer who covered the cage fighting circuit for both magazines and Web sites, said fighter and trainer Bob Karmel, who befriended Torre after meeting him in Japan.

"He was always kind of outspoken," Karmel said. "He would always ask the questions nobody else asked."

After meeting and training with some of the best fighters in the field, Torre eventually decided to get into the ring himself, Karmel said.

He fought his most high profile bout Feb. 24, 2001, when he took just under two minutes to battle his 330-pound opponent into submission inside a caged ring during a match dubbed "Kings of the Cage 7." Videotapes of the fight are still widely sold on the Internet.

"He was pretty popular for a while," Karmel said. "After his fight in "Kings of the Cage,' he was getting ready to open up his own studio in Rancho Cucamonga."

Torre's popularity, however, didn't last. He was later exposed as having exaggerated his fighting credentials and dropped out of the martial arts scene amid criticism around the time of Richards' murder.

"That happens in martial arts," Karmel said. "You're famous one day and out the next."


Average Joe


Bryan Richards never enjoyed such fame.

The oldest of four brothers, Richards was born and raised in Orange County and attended school in Huntington Beach and Garden Grove.

He later opened his own business selling used medical equipment to doctors and dentists.

He was married and divorced before he met Angelina in 1996 while visiting his mother at a dental office where both women worked.

They were married two years later.

Together they cared for Angelina's two children from a previous relationship, and eventually had a son and daughter of their own. Those children are now 3 and 5.

Bryan cherished his family above all else, said his father, Terrence.

"He was the most optimistic and generous person you would ever meet," Terrence Richards said. "He put us and his family before everything else he did."

Like the detectives, Richards' family has also long suspected that Torre and Angelina Richards had a hand in Bryan's death.

Driven in part by frustrations over the long delays in the criminal investigation, the family hired a detective of its own and launched two lawsuits against Torre and Angelina Richards, seeking to block either from receiving any of Richards' $1 million insurance policy.

"It's been really hard," said Keith Richards, Bryan's brother. "It felt like they would just get away with it and there would be no justice for my brother."

Both of the Richards family's lawsuits are still pending, and are likely to be delayed because of the criminal case.

Keith Richards said his family feels some sense of relief now that Torre has been arrested, but still believes pieces of the puzzle are missing.

He said he hopes Torre's arrest will prompt more people to come forward with information that will help police and his family finally reach some sort of closure.

"I know there are people who have information about this," Keith Richards said. "I hope they will come forward or say something. I don't want to see them get away with this."

quelle:
www.dailybulletin.com

[BJJ Fighter]

Danke für die news- bin mal gespannt, was für ein Urteil gesprochen wird...