A Valencia man accused of murdering his boyfriend in 2017 returned to court this week.
Christian Ortiz, 25, of Valencia, is charged with the murder of Brayan Rodriguez, whose body was found inside a closet in a house on the 23600 block of Via Valer, near Valencia Glen Park, on Sept. 24, 2017.
Ortiz is scheduled to return on Dec. 6 for a pretrial conference. Pretrial conferences are used for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to: establishing a timeline for concluding all pre-trial activities and possibly setting a tentative pretrial date at this time, encouraging the settlement of cases, counsel trying to agree on undisputed facts or points of law, and more.
A number of search parties were dispatched on the weekend of Rodriguez’s disappearance, some of which were attended by Ortiz himself and he was seen talking with a handful of members of the media.
The parties scoured the surrounding area and Santa Clara riverbed in search of Rodriguez. However, his body was ultimately found a few days later.
Ortiz was arrested three days later in connection to the murder. His trial has been a long process, with a number of delays and postponements.
In October 2018, after Ortiz’s preliminary hearing was postponed four times, a judge ruled that Ortiz should stand trial for the murder.
Ortiz remains in custody in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility with bail set at $2 million.
