LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Note: The video is from July 28, 2020.
A Lancaster County man will serve two prison terms of life without parole plus an additional term of up to 13 years following his conviction for shooting two friends and burning their bodies in a pickup truck in 2020, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.
Ezequiel B. Almodovar, 39, of Bird-In-Hand, was convicted in June by a Lancaster County jury for murdering Jonathan Rivera, 29, and Eugenio Morales-Torres, 33, at his home on Hunsicker Road in Upper Leacock Township on July 27, 2020, and burning their corpses in the bed of a truck left on a farm lane in Manor Township.
Lancaster County President Judge David Ashworth sentenced Almodovar at a hearing Wednesday afternoon in Lancaster County Court.
“It takes a special individual to take someone’s life in cold blood and that’s what we have here today,” prosecuting Assistant District Attorney Christopher Miller said to Ashworth at the hearing. “It takes an even more special person to do it twice in cold blood. He didn’t confine himself to taking two lives. He had to abuse the corpses of Jonathan Rivera and Eugenio Morales-Torres. That’s a really sick and twisted thing to do.”
Miller then asked for two life sentences for the homicides of each victim and the sentences for recklessly burning, abuse of corpse, and tampering with evidence to all run consecutively.
Defense counsel argued a single sentence of life in prison without parole would satisfy the points the prosecution raised, but Ashworth did not agree.
“I know I’m looked at as a monster, but nobody was there at the top of the driveway that night," Almodovar said during the hearing. "I fought for my life.”
Ashworth disagreed.
“It wouldn’t be appropriate to sentence you to one life sentence when you took two lives,” he said to the defendant. “Throughout this case you’ve chosen to blame everyone but yourself.”
Ashworth continued by saying the defendant blamed the victims for their own death and his trial counsel for the guilty verdict. He also said the defendant attempted to manipulate the justice system, never took responsibility for his actions, and only showed remorse for having been convicted.
Finally, Ashworth mentioned the defendant’s prior record score, which showed multiple convictions of drug dealing.
Two members of Rivera’s family spoke during the proceeding.
“He was a special being in our lives and did not deserve to die in such a way,” one family member said. “You took away a son, brother, and father,” said another.
Assistant District Attorneys Miller and Benjamin Baker presented evidence and testimony to the jury that on July 27, 2020, around 11:50 p.m., East Lampeter Township Police received a call regarding Rivera and Morales-Torres having gone missing, neither being seen or heard from since 7 p.m. and their phones going directly to voicemail.
The caller also reported the victims went to visit a friend named “Zeke,” which Almodovar was known to go by.
The witness stated she went to Zeke’s house and observed him standing in the driveway with blood on his shirt and Morales-Torres’ Ford F-150 parked in the driveway.
On July 28, 2020, around 6:40 a.m., Manor Township Police Department responded to a burned pick-up truck on Charlestown Road, Manor Township, and discovered charred human remains of two individuals in the bed of the truck. The vehicle was identified by VIN as belonging to Morales-Torres.
The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office identified the individuals to be Rivera and Morales-Torres and determined the cause of death to be gunshot wounds to the body and the manner to be homicide.
Both victims were shot in the back.
Further evidence presented by the Commonwealth included Almodovar’s neighbors hearing multiple gunshots at the time of the shooting, firearm shell casings found on his driveway, and a bag of blood found in his garage.
Defense counsel argued self-defense, stating the victims showed up at Almodovar’s house to rob him because they knew he was a drug dealer and would have money/drugs at his home.
Miller responded in his closing argument saying the defendant’s testimony during trial wasn’t credible because he concealed evidence immediately by burning the bodies and cell phones, destroying home surveillance footage, and trying to create an alibi.
East Lampeter Township Police Detective Scott Eelman filed charges, testified, and attended the entirety of trial. Pennsylvania State Police, Manor Township Police, and Lancaster County Detectives assisted in the investigation.