HILLSBORO, Ore. (KOIN) — When Rafael Mora-Contreras walked into a courtroom Thursday, he once again faced accusations he took part in a grisly and heinous killing in 2000.
Though he was convicted in 2003 and spent the past 15 years in prison, he was granted a retrial after he and his counsel pointed out he was restrained in court by a stun belt — a use that’s been recently curbed — and was tried at the same time as another man, instead of separately.
But the victim’s family never heard about this appeal process until recently.
On Thursday, Mora-Contreras was in court for a status check. To date, he has not had any attorneys appointed and a trial judge has not been assigned. He has to have counsel before a trial judge can be assigned, and then a date will be scheduled after that.
The crime
In 2000, Gonzalo Pizano was engaged, ready to settle down and start a family. But he never got the chance.
“The reason of my brother’s death was so the wedding would not carry out,” his sister, Juana, told KOIN 6 News on Tuesday.
Pizano was kidnapped by Mora-Contreras and David Noble. They burned his car and took him to Hagg Lake. There, they stabbed him in the heart and shot him. Before he died, they slit his throat. “To stop the gargling noise,” Juana said.
“A judge said he had never, in his history being a judge, witnessed or seen anything like that,” Juana said of her brother’s murder. “More so because the way my brother was killed.”
Family in court Thursday
Sisters Uana and Marisol Pizano were in court Thursday afternoon to represent their slain brother.
“What’s upsetting me is that it took me back 18 years ago when we first learned my brother was murdered,” Uana told KOIN 6 News. “Sitting there in the courthouse today and looking at the person who murdered my brother and I was not able to contain myself until I was able to get out of the courtroom. All I could think about is, ‘Why are we here? Why is my family here 18 years later and why do I have to go through this feeling?'”
She said the Oregon Department of Justice failed the family and wants to know who’s paying for this trial. The original trial, she said, was the most expensive (at that time) in Washington County.
“At the end of the day he will be convicted again for murdering my brother. He just wants to be released early,” she said. “Do you want a convicted murderer out?”
Marisol said it was a Marion County judge decided that Mora-Contreras should get a retrial. “My brother did not get a second chance at life. Why is he getting a second chance at retrial?”
She said their mother had to leave the courtroom because she was overcome with emotion.
The trial itself may not begin for another year in a prolonged process.
Regardless of how long it takes, the Pizano family vows to stand strong and tall.
“We’re going to be here at every court hearing, every small motion,” Marisol said. “You guys will always see us here.”