Court to Weigh Competency of Man Charged in 2018 Pasadena Dismemberment Murder

A judge will hear arguments Tuesday on whether Valentino Gutierrez is mentally fit to stand trial for the 2018 murder of his wife, who was murdered and dismembered in a vacant Pasadena restaurant building.

The competency hearing, scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in Department 203 of the Hollywood Courthouse, marks the latest development in a case that has wound through the courts for eight years.

Gutierrez, 64, faces one count of murder and one count of arson with an accelerant allegation in the death of Tiana Theresa Alfred, 31. He has pleaded not guilty. Criminal proceedings were suspended since July 2025, when his defense attorney raised doubts about his mental competence.

Prosecutors allege Gutierrez strangled Alfred on or around January 31, 2018, inside the vacant Dona Rosa Bakery and Taqueria at 577 S. Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena. He then allegedly dismembered her body and placed some of her remains in a suitcase, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Authorities allege Gutierrez boarded a Metro Gold Line train at the Fillmore Station in Pasadena shortly after midnight on February 1, 2018, carrying the suitcase and a bicycle. He allegedly got off the train at the Lincoln/Cypress Station and rode to a Home Depot parking lot at 2055 N. Figueroa St., where he set the suitcase on fire around 1:30 a.m., according to police.

Firefighters responding to reports of a fire discovered human remains inside the burned suitcase.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division led the investigation, using Metro surveillance footage and a police bloodhound to trace a path back to Pasadena, according to police accounts from 2018. Homeless individuals in the area identified Gutierrez when shown surveillance photographs, police said.

Gutierrez was arrested February 2, 2018, as he left a homeless shelter on South Raymond Avenue in Pasadena, where he and Alfred had been living.

The medical examiner’s office later determined Alfred died of strangulation, according to the East Bay Times, citing court records. On March 1, 2018, the coroner positively identified the victim after recovering additional remains from the restaurant.

LAPD Deputy Chief Justin Eisenberg described the case at a 2018 press conference as “a particularly disturbing homicide because of its sheer brutality,” according to CBS News.

The charges were filed February 6, 2018. Gutierrez was arraigned at Pasadena Superior Court on February 15, 2018, and pleaded not guilty. He has been held at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles in lieu of $2 million bail.

The case has had multiple continuances and hearings over the years, including pretrial hearings at the Pasadena Courthouse in April and May 2025. On July 17, 2025, Gutierrez’s attorney raised a doubt of mental competence during a court appearance in Pasadena Superior Court, over the prosecution’s objection, according to Pamela J. Johnson, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office. Criminal proceedings were suspended pending an evaluation.

Under California law, a defendant found mentally incompetent cannot cooperate with his or her attorney or does not understand the nature of the proceedings due to mental illness, a developmental disability, or both. If Gutierrez is found competent, the murder case can proceed toward trial. If not, he could be ordered into treatment, further extending the timeline of a case now in its ninth year.

Tuesday’s hearing will take place at 8:30 a.m. in Department 203 of the Hollywood Courthouse, 5925 Hollywood Blvd.

Court records show Gutierrez has a criminal history in Los Angeles County dating to 1989, including convictions for robbery, battery, domestic violence, sexual battery, burglary, and weapons offenses, according to the Pasadena Star-News. Authorities have not publicly disclosed a motive in Alfred’s death.

If convicted, Gutierrez faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison, according to the DA’s office.