Manuel Marcus Sepulveda

Name

Manuel Marcus Sepulveda

Background

Manuel Sepulveda lived with Daniel Heleva and Robyn Otto in Polk, Pennsylvania. Heleva and Otto had two children, who were taken to the police station after police arrived.

Timeline

November 26, 2001 — Sepulveda was at the home of Daniel Heleva and Robyn Otto in Polk, Pennsylvania; John Mendez and Ricardo Lopez arrived to recover two guns; after multiple arguments among the men, Sepulveda shot Mendez and Lopez, resulting in their deaths; police responded to a 911 call; troopers found both bodies in the basement. January 27, 2003 — Sepulveda was sentenced to death.

The offence

Sepulveda retrieved two guns from an upstairs bedroom and gave them to John Mendez, who said they belonged to him. Later that night, Heleva returned to the house with Richard Boyko and discovered that the guns were missing. After Sepulveda explained to Heleva that Mendez had taken the guns, Heleva instructed Boyko to call Mendez and have him come back to the house. During this time, Jimmy Frey was in the living room watching television.

Mendez and Lopez returned to the house, but Heleva did not permit Lopez to enter. Mendez came inside. Heleva immediately accused Mendez of stealing his guns, and the two men began fighting in the kitchen. After the fight was resolved, Sepulveda and Lopez joined Heleva and Mendez in the kitchen, where the four men then sat around the table talking. Boyko left the house. While the men were in the kitchen, another argument erupted. Sepulveda grabbed a .12 gauge shotgun and shot Mendez in the stomach. He then turned the gun towards Lopez and shot him in the side. After Lopez collapsed on the floor, Sepulveda placed the barrel of the shotgun on Lopez’s back and again fired the weapon, killing Lopez. Sepulveda then chased Mendez up the stairs to the second floor of the house where he shot Mendez a second time.

Although wounded, Mendez escaped from Sepulveda and Heleva and fled to a neighbor’s house with Sepulveda and Heleva in pursuit. Mendez knocked on the neighbor’s front door but before anyone answered, Sepulveda and Heleva grabbed Mendez and dragged him across the lawn back to their house. Frey retrieved the shotgun Sepulveda had dropped on the lawn and hid it inside a sofa in the house. Once the men had dragged Mendez back inside, Sepulveda inflicted several blows with a hatchet, killing Mendez.

Investigation

Police received a 911 call from neighbors reporting a domestic violence dispute at the home. State troopers arrived and spoke to a neighbor who told them she had heard a loud noise and a high-pitched voice screaming “help me” outside of her door and that when she looked outside, she had seen someone being dragged across her front lawn into Heleva’s residence.

The troopers noticed a smear of blood on the neighbor’s front door and that a wooden porch railing had been broken. On the way to Heleva’s house, they noticed a bloody jacket and blood on Heleva’s door.

The troopers knocked and announced their presence, and Sepulveda answered and denied knowledge of any incident, but then stated that he had been assaulted by two men. The troopers placed Sepulveda in the back of the patrol car and handcuffed him. They still believed there was a domestic violence incident and asked Sepulveda where the woman was. Sepulveda responded, “There is no 'she.' They are in the basement. I shot them.”

After additional troopers arrived, they entered the house and found the bodies of Lopez and Mendez in the basement of the residence. Lopez was found beneath slabs of insulation and dry wall material, with his pants pulled to his ankles. Mendez was found beneath a pile of laundry, stripped naked with his thumb in his mouth and a rubber bungee cord wrapped tightly around his neck.

Arrest and custody

The troopers took Sepulveda, Heleva, Otto and the children to the police station, and also brought in Boyko and Frey.

Statements by Sepulveda

Sepulveda admitted that he shot both Mendez and Lopez twice, but claimed that he only started shooting after he believed Lopez was about to go out to his car to retrieve a gun. Sepulveda also admitted that after Mendez ran outside following the shooting, he and Heleva dragged Mendez back inside, at which time Sepulveda grabbed the hatchet and struck Mendez in the head.

In a second statement, Sepulveda stated that he had only shot Lopez once and that Heleva had shot him the second time. He said that after he shot Lopez and Mendez in the kitchen, he chased Mendez up the stairs and while struggling with him, he heard shots fired from the kitchen. He admitted shooting Mendez a second time but said it was Heleva who eventually struck him in the head with the hatchet, killing him.

Outcome

Sepulveda was sentenced to death on January 27, 2003.