TRIO CONVICTED IN 2007 RIVERSIDE TORTURE CASE

RIVERSIDE - Two men and one woman have been convicted of the brutal torture of a man in a Riverside home during which the victim was held against his will for about 18 hours.

After being kidnapped, the victim was beaten, kicked in the head, sodomized, burned with a methamphetamine pipe and had a racial slur carved into his back with a razorblade.

"This was a heinous crime in which the victim was brutally tortured and held captive for nearly a day," District Attorney Rod Pacheco said. "I am pleased that all three juries carefully looked at and followed the law, then came to a just decision. It is important for the continued safety of our community that violent criminals such as these be held accountable and are removed from our neighborhoods."

The verdicts of the three separate juries were unsealed and released on June 30, 2009. The trial lasted more than two months before Superior Court Judge Jean Pfeiffer Leonard. Orlagh Ann Bewley, 39; Eugene Daniel Flock, 29; and Jose Zepeda, 21, all of Riverside, were each convicted of torture and sodomy. Bewley was also convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery and kidnapping. Flock and Zepeda were also convicted of robbery and vehicle theft, with Zepeda being convicted of kidnapping and Flock of false imprisonment.

On Feb. 4, 2007, the victim was kidnapped because the defendants believed he had disrespected Bewley. For about the next eight hours, he was held at a home on Brockton Avenue in Riverside where he was tortured and, at one point, humiliated by being stripped and dressed in women's clothing. He ultimately told his captors that he had $5,000 cash buried in the back yard of his Victorville home, which he actually did not. For several hours, however, defendants did some digging at that location, searching to no avail for the money.

The victim was then driven around by another man who was never arrested. The victim convinced that man to let him go for $500. The driver then released the victim, dropping him off at a Norco business where the victim's girlfriend worked. Within 10 hours, law enforcement officers had arrested five people in connection with the crimes. Two remaining defendants in this case, Eddie Jose Huerta, 23, of Winchester, and Amber Robles, 30, of Riverside are still awaiting trial.

Bewley, Flock and Zepeda are scheduled to return to the Hall of Justice in Riverside on Aug. 31, 2009, for their next proceeding. They are expected to be sentenced in late October. Each of them are facing a life sentence.

The three-jury trial was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Philip Greenberg.

"After a lengthy trial and the unspeakable things that were done to the victim, these verdicts were appropriate and the defendants were held responsible for their actions," Greenberg said.