Pretrial Hearing Set for Today in Horrific Murder Case

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, January 22 at 8:30 a.m. for a man accused of murdering his wife and burning her dismembered remains in a Home Depot parking lot in 2018.

Valentino Gutierrez faces one count of murder, one count of arson of property, and an additional accusation of using an accelerant in connection with the death of his 31-year-old wife, Tiana Alfred.

The hearing will take place in Department F of the Pasadena Courthouse.

Firefighters initially responded to what was reported as a garbage fire at a Cypress Park Home Depot around 1:30 a.m. on February 1, 2018. After extinguishing the flames, they discovered human remains inside a burned suitcase. The body was so badly burned that officers could not initially determine if it was male or female.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division took charge of the case due to its complex nature.

Police say Gutierrez transported his wife’s remains by train from Pasadena to Los Angeles. Investigators described it as a targeted crime.

Detectives reportedly used surveillance footage and a police bloodhound to trace Gutierrez’s movements from the Fillmore Station in Pasadena.

Interviews with homeless individuals in the area helped identify him as the suspect.

Authorities arrested Gutierrez on February 2, 2018, shortly after 10 a.m., as he left a homeless shelter on Raymond Avenue in Pasadena, where both he and Alfred had been living at the time.

Police described the killing as particularly disturbing and grotesque.

The victim’s head was initially missing, complicating identification efforts, but was later recovered, according to police sources.

Gutierrez, who has an extensive criminal history including convictions for robbery, battery, domestic violence, drugs, and possession of a deadly weapon, pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on February 15, 2018.

He remains held at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles on $2.17 million bail.

If convicted, Gutierrez faces a possible life sentence in prison. Investigators have not publicly identified a motive for the alleged crime, though they indicated it was a targeted attack.