A hearing is scheduled at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday for Valentino Gutierrez, who is charged with murdering his wife in January 2018 in Pasadena and then taking a train to Los Angeles, where the woman’s remains were set on fire in a suitcase in a parking lot. The purpose of the hearing is to set a court date for Gutierrez’s preliminary hearing.
Gutierrez, who is being held on $2 million bail, faces murder and arson charges in connection with the crime, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Authorities say the victim, 31-year-old Tiana Alfred, and the accused lived in a homeless shelter on Raymond Avenue in Pasadena at the time the crime occurred.
Officials contend Alfred was killed in an abandoned restaurant on South Arroyo Parkway near Colorado Boulevard, with her remains cut up and stuffed into a suitcase before Gutierrez took them to a Home Depot parking lot in Los Angeles and set them ablaze.
Firefighters responding to what was reported as a garbage fire found the victim’s remains.
Surveillance video and other forensic evidence linked Gutierrez to the crime. He was arrested on Feb. 2, 2018.
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