Pretrial Hearing Set for Man Accused in Gruesome Murder Case

A pretrial hearing is scheduled Thursday, April 10 at 8:30 a.m. for a man charged with murdering his wife in Pasadena and burning her dismembered remains in a suitcase at a Home Depot store in Cypress Park parking lot.

Valentino Gutierrez, 56, will appear in Department F of the Pasadena Courthouse at 300 E. Walnut St. He faces charges of murder, arson, and using an accelerant in the 2018 death of his wife, Tiana Alfred, 31.

Authorities allege Gutierrez killed Alfred on or around Jan. 31, 2018, in an abandoned restaurant in Pasadena, near California Boulevard and Arroyo Parkway.

After the murder, prosecutors say Gutierrez dismembered Alfred’s body inside a vacant Pasadena building and placed the remains in a suitcase. He then boarded a Metro Gold Line train from Pasadena to Los Angeles with the suitcase.

Upon exiting at the Lincoln/Cypress Station, Gutierrez allegedly rode a bicycle to a Home Depot parking lot in Cypress Park where he set the suitcase containing his wife’s remains on fire around 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2018.

Firefighters responding to reports of a garbage fire discovered the burned remains.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division led the investigation, using surveillance footage and interviews with homeless individuals to identify Gutierrez as the suspect.

Identification of the victim was complicated by the severely damaged remains. Authorities later found Alfred’s decapitated head, which confirmed her identity.

The case has been described as “particularly disturbing” due to its brutality, according to court documents.

At the time of the murder, Gutierrez and Alfred were homeless and living in a shelter on Raymond Avenue in Pasadena.

Described in court documents as a “career criminal,” Gutierrez has previous convictions for burglary, sexual battery, felony battery and domestic violence.

Gutierrez has pleaded not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Authorities have not publicly disclosed a motive for the crime.