DUBLIN — A Bay Area man was convicted of hiring a still-unidentified gunman to murder his friend over a financial dispute, a crime prosecutors say was motivated by $1.35 million in insurance policies the defendant hoped to collect.
Albert Jones Jr. 39, was convicted of hiring the murderer of 27-year-old Alexander Jacob Martinez, a music engineer who was shot and killed outside of a Castro Valley recording studio in 2016. The gunman played the role of a robber, but forced Martinez to kneel and shot him in the head, according to authorities.
The guilty verdict came in Jones’ second trial. He was tried once earlier this year but jurors failed to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared, court records show.
Jones and Martinez were once close friends and roommates in Concord, but grew apart after a financial dispute over unpaid bills at their residence, according to witness testimony. After the murder, Jones was interviewed by police; he admitted to placing a tracking device that he bought online onto Martinez’s car, explaining he felt increasingly humiliated by Martinez ducking him over a debt.
The prosecution’s case included two witnesses whose prior testimony was read to jurors, because one had died and one couldn’t be located. Marie Padilla, a Concord resident who died of an illness years ago, testified at a preliminary hearing that Jones and another person had lived with her until Martinez and Jones moved to Jones’ father’s home in Hercules. She said at some point, Jones became angry at Martinez over an unpaid bill, but when she met them they were “like brothers.”
The person who did the murder-for-hire remains unidentified by authorities.
Jones allegedly collected multiple life insurance policies on Martinez, then took steps to collect after the murder. Padilla testified that Jones left the country in April 2016, when the murder occurred, but confessed to her when he was back in the Bay Area.
“He said it was done, and it didn’t dawn on me what he was talking about at the time,” Padilla said. “He had (Martinez) killed.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com