Three Men Accused Of Killing Friend, Recording It On Cell Phone

Law enforcement learned of the killing Tuesday when a woman said her ex-boyfriend showed her a video on his cell phone of a man being killed.

Three California men are accused of tying up a friend, stabbing him to death, and recording the killing on a cell phone.

The men are suspected of then wrapping the man's body in a rug, taking it to an almond orchard, and setting it on fire, Merced County Sheriff's Sgt. Delray Shelton told BuzzFeed News.

The grisly killing was discovered Tuesday when a woman went to law enforcement and told officials her ex-boyfriend showed her a video of the stabbing on his cell phone, Shelton said.

According to Merced County jail records, Dionicio Gutierrez Salazar, 36, Francisco Alvarez, 24, and Alexis Eduardo Garcia-Jimenez, 19, were booked Wednesday on suspicion of first-degree murder.

After the three men were taken into custody Tuesday, and one of them admitted to killing, authorities said. He then led authorities to the body to an almond orchard where it had been burned.

Investigators have retrieved the cell phone used to record the attack and are inspecting it to review the recording.

The victim, who also lived at the home, has only been identified as a man in his late 30s or early 40s.

What sparked the deadly encounter is still under investigation, but Shelton said the four men had been drinking Saturday night or Sunday morning at their home when they began to argue.

"We know there was some sort of distasteful comment," Shelton said.

Donicio Gutierrez Salazar was angered by the comment, and stabbed the victim several times, Shelton told BuzzFeed News.

The victim had been tied up, and one of the men allegedly recorded the attack.

Alvarez and Garcia-Jimenez are suspected of "at least aiding and abetting" in the killing, Shelton said.

Investigators searched the home Tuesday and found several blood splatters and other indications that the killing occurred there, he said.

The three men are each being held on $1 million bond.

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