A former Sonoma County correctional deputy who was gunned down outside a Santa Rosa brewpub, allegedly by his lover's jealous boyfriend, had a string of love bites on his chest and tattoos depicting an interest in the movie "Scarface."
In the continuing trial for the man charged with killing Jack Romero, 33, both sides Monday discussed the significance of photographs from his autopsy.
Across Romero's chest in a chevron pattern between his clavicles was a series of bruises that forensic pathologist Kelly Arthur-Kenny testified were likely hickies or love bites.
She could not say when they were made before his June 29, 2011 slaying outside Third Street Aleworks. The man accused of killing Romero after finding him with the mother of his three children, Ryan Dietz, 31, listened from the defense table.
"My contention is that they are most consistent with love bites or healing hickies," Arthur-Kenny testified.
Arthur-Kenny, who performed Romero's post-mortem examination, also noted Romero's tattoos, pointing to a photograph of his stripped body that was displayed for the jury.
He had "Junior mob" inscribed within a "sleeve" of tattoos on one arm and a picture of a $100 bill. His last name was tattooed across his stomach in old English script.
Around his neck, just under where his collar would be, was written "The world is yours," in reverse.
Dietz's attorney, Joe Bisbiglia, said the phrase was a favorite of fictional character Tony Montana, a drug dealer in the movie "Scarface." The defense has suggested at trial and in a preliminary hearing that Romero had other enemies who may have wanted to harm him.
She testified Romero had been shot 11 times in an alleyway not far from the brewpub. Any one of three wounds - one to the head and two to the chest - would have been fatal, she said. She said Romero could have died within seconds.
Bisbiglia cross-examined the doctor about her conclusions surrounding the love bites. The prosecution's case rests on the idea that Romero and Garicka Rush, 34, were having an affair and Dietz found out about it and killed him.
Arthur-Kenny conceded the marks could have come from something else but were consistent with about 20 cases she's seen where the victims' spouses reported making "passionate love" the night before.
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