Jury Sees Video of Accused Hitman Asking Former Girlfriend to Dispose of Machete Used in Attack

Jurors in the attempted-murder and conspiracy trial of Mary Sharpski and Michael Shores of Fountain Valley, and Antonio Ortega of Santa Ana saw video Monday of Ortega asking his former girlfriend to dispose of the machete allegedly used in the attack on Sharpski’s husband.

Ortega, 25, along with Sharpski, 48, and Shores, 40, both of Fountain Valley, are charged with plotting to kill Frank Sharpski, known to friends and family as Rick, in March 2009. As part of the alleged conspiracy with Shores and Sharpski, Ortega is accused of attacking Rick Sharpski with a machete in an alley outside of the couple’s home and leaving him to die the morning of March 3, 2009, fracturing his skull, severing a thumb and fingers, partly severing his nose and causing several other machete wounds.

On Thursday, the jury heard more than four hours of testimony from Ortega’s former girlfriend, April Bivens, who testified that Ortega had asked her to remove the machete from his bedroom. In the video played for the jury on Monday, Ortega’s voice can be heard talking to Bivens by phone as he sits in a Fountain Valley Police Department interview room with detective Adam Hertenstein. After Ortega explains to Bivens that he’s in custody, Hertenstein can be seen leaving the room, after which Ortega suddenly lowers his voice, saying, “I really need you to clean out everything in my room for me. You know exactly what I'm talking about? Behind the dresser.”

Ortega could also be heard in the video asking Bivens about her journal, telling her that he’d told police the entry for March 3 would prove his innocence because “I was in your arms.” He then tells Bivens he’s going to call his mother, closing the conversation by telling her, “Don’t forget what I asked, OK?”

The jury nearly didn't get a chance to see the video. Jurors were dismissed about 15 minutes before the normal lunch break when it was revealed that the video also contained footage of Ortega talking with detectives before the subsequent call to his mother. Ortega’s attorney, Derek Bercher, objected because of what he saw as a potential Miranda issue, but Superior Court Judge Richard Toohey ordered the video re-edited before being shown to the jury. The jury was also given instructions that the video was to be applied as evidence against Ortega only.

The jury also heard from several Fountain Valley police detectives regarding some of the physical evidence in the case. Detective Kham Vang told prosecuting attorney Lynda Fernandez that he had been present when police searched Ortega’s home and found several weapons, but that the team never searched behind the dresser where the machete allegedly used in the attack was later found by Bivens.

During Bercher’s cross-examination, Vang revealed that he had also been involved in the search of the Sharpski home, and that several weapons had been found there as well. Bercher challenged Vang as to why the dresser in Ortega’s bedroom had not been moved when other furniture in the room had been as part of a thorough search, and it was also revealed that Vang listed several items logged into evidence as having been found by him, even though most were found by other officers and given to him.

The jury also heard about DNA evidence collected in the case against Ortega. Fountain Valley Police detective Terry McLean testified that he retrieved Ortega's saliva from the parking lot of the Stater Brothers where Ortega worked in Huntington Beach. Fernandez told the jury in her opening statement that DNA connected Ortega to blood found at the scene of the attack, leading to his arrest.

During the morning session of the proceedings, attorneys for the defense finished their cross-examinations of Rick Sharpski’s oldest daughter, Ashley. Ashley Sharpski admitted to Bercher that her main concern when she first began talking to police after her mother’s arrest was what she could do to be reunited with her two younger siblings. She also revealed that when she first heard of her mother's arrest, she briefly refused to continue talking with police without an attorney present, but, when police accused her of trying to protect her mother, Shores and Ortega, she resumed talking with investigators.

Bercher also asked Ashley Sharpski if she had told two of her foster sisters that she had been involved in planning the attack against her father in an effort to protect her mother, but she denied any involvement.