Jury deliberates
case of ex-officer accused of killing student

Prosecutors in Columbia, Mo., on Friday asked a jury to convict a former police officer of killing a gay college student with whom he had had an affair. The jury began deliberating shortly after 2 p.m. Jesse Valencia, 23, who attended the University of Missouri-Columbia, was last seen at a party early June 5, 2004, in his neighborhood east of campus. A neighbor in the building reported hearing Valencia arguing with someone early that morning. The student's body was found later that day in a nearby yard. His throat had been slashed. Public defender Valerie Leftwich said the officer, Steve Rios, initially lied to investigators about his relationship with Valencia because he did not want fellow police officers or his wife to know about it. "Evidence that Steven Rios lies is not evidence that he killed Jesse Valencia," Leftwich said. Rios had arrested Valencia in April 2004 for interfering with him and another officer as they answered a police call about a loud party. In testimony Friday morning, Rios said his affair with Valencia began later that night. He told the jury that he visited Valencia's apartment six times, including three times while he was on duty, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported. Key evidence in the case included DNA recovered from under Valencia's fingernails and hair found on his chest, both of which matched that of Rios. Leftwich said that evidence merely showed the pair had contact and that DNA can linger for days. Although the murder weapon was never found, prosecutors say Valencia's throat was cut with a serrated knife and that Rios carried a knife that could have caused such an injury. In the days following the murder, Rios twice threatened suicide and for a while was held in a state mental hospital at Fulton. In January, Rios was moved to the Boone County Jail pending trial. He resigned from the police department June 16 and was charged July 1. (AP)