DNA Evidence Linked Suspect to Christmas Eve Triple Homicide: Warrant
A newly released search warrant reveals new details in the case against Carlo Mercado
By Andie Adams ••
DNA evidence led police to tie a suspect in an illegal firearms case to the mysterious triple homicide last Christmas Eve, a newly released search warrant reveals.
Mercado has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. On Wednesday, after two days of evidence was presented in the preliminary hearing, he was bound over for trial.
Flint and Salvatore were fatally shot inside a car in the Mission Valley mall parking lot on Dec. 24, 2013. Gianni’s body was discovered on Jan. 17 inside the trunk of his own vehicle, which was parked 100 miles away in Riverside.
The day after Gianni’s decomposing corpse was found, a U.S. Border Patrol agent pulled Mercado over as he drove his 2001 white Ford Explorer through the Interstate 5 checkpoint near San Clemente, the search warrant says.
The agent told investigators Mercado seemed “dazed” and "drained of emotion." After some questioning, he said he was going to San Bernardino to find a shooting range and told the agent he had an AR-15 in a bag laying on his backseat.
A search of Mercado’s vehicle uncovered a mask, zip ties and the AR-15 assault rifle with three fully loaded, ten-round magazines and two fully loaded, 30-round magazines. They also found one .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun with three, fully loaded magazines and spare barrel, as well as one .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun with two loaded magazines.
A handmade silencer was discovered hidden in the SUV’s center console, the search warrant says.
Mercado was arrested and his case turned over to a special agent with the California Department of Justice for prosecution. Soon after, Mercado bailed out of jail.
Meanwhile, San Diego Police detectives investigating the Belvedere and Flint deaths hit a dead end.
They finished processing the crime scene where Gianni’s body was discovered, pulling DNA evidence and fingerprints from a can of Febreze air freshener and two boxes of Arm and Hammer air freshener.
The Febreze canister’s trigger was duct taped down so all of the contents would spray into the trunk and mask the odor of Gianni’s body, the SDPD detective says. On the duct tape, analysts found a single black hair.
Analysts also took DNA swabs off the gas cap of Gianni’s car, assuming whoever drove it to Riverside may have had to refuel it along the way.
But when all the evidence was cross referenced with the California DNA Data Bank in March, investigators could find no suspect matches, according to the search warrant.
One month later, they hit a break in the case.
The California DOJ again arrested Mercado outside his Mira Mesa home on April 29. He was charged with possession of an assault weapon, possession of a firearm silencer and carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle.
Facebook
(L-r) Gianni Belvedere, Ilona Flint and Salvatore Belvedere in a Facebook photo.
These images show evidence presented at the preliminary hearing of Carlo Mercado on Sept. 3, 2014. This shows a phone calender that has "R.I.P." listed as an event on Dec. 24, 2013: the day Ilona Flint and Salvatore Belvedere died.
These guns, magazines and boxes of ammunition were confiscated from Mercado's SUV during a Border Patrol stop on Jan. 18, 2014, the day after Gianni Belvedere's body was found in his car in Riverside.
Among the weapons was a .22-caliber handgun, which prosecutors say was used to kill all three victims.
Multiple boxes of ammunition were confiscated from Mercado's car in an unrelated weapons case.
Riverside Police showed images from the crime scene were Gianni's body was found in his green Toyota. The photos were presented at Mercado's preliminary hearing on Sept. 3, 2014.
A can of Febreze and two boxes of Arm and Hammer air freshener were found next to Gianni's decomposing body in the trunk of the car.
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Investigators say the can had traces of Mercado's DNA on the duct tape holding down the trigger.
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Here is a homemade silencer detectives say they found in Mercado's car during the traffic stop on Jan. 18.
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Investigators showed how the silencer fit the handgun found in Mercado's car in this photo.
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An image shown during the preliminary hearing for Carlo Mercado, accused of a triple homicide in San Diego on Dec. 24, 2013.
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An image shown during the preliminary hearing for Carlo Mercado, accused of a triple homicide in San Diego on Dec. 24, 2013.
Courtesy of Carlos Cortez
The scene in Riverside, Calif., after police found a car tied to Gianni Belvedere in the parking lot of a shopping center on Jan. 17, 2014. Inside the vehicle, police discovered the body of a man.
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Another piece of evidence found in the corner of a license plate on the car containing Gianni Belvedere's body.
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Carlo Mercado, 29, appears in court for his preliminary hearing on Sept. 2, 2014.
Belvedere Family
Family photos published to the website "Justice for Sal, Gianni, and Ilona."
Belvedere Family
Family photos published to the website "Justice for Sal, Gianni, and Ilona."
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The scene of the shooting outside the Macy's in Mission Valley on Dec. 24.
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The scene of a double shooting on the morning of Christmas Eve - the parking lot near the Macy's in Mission Valley.
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A photo of Ilona Flint from Facebook.
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Nearly six months after the Christmas Eve killings, San Diego resident Carlo Mercado, 29, was arrested in connection with the deaths of Ilona, Sal and Gianni. Mercado was booked into jail on three counts of first-degree murder.
Courtesy Belvedere, Flint families
Family photos published to the website "Justice for Sal, Gianni, and Ilona."
cassell78
Carlo Mercado at his arraignment in June 2014.
Belvedere Family
Family photos published to the website "Justice for Sal, Gianni, and Ilona."
Belvedere Family
Family photos published to the website "Justice for Sal, Gianni, and Ilona."
(L-r) Gianni Belvedere, Ilona Flint and Salvatore Belvedere in a Facebook photo.
Getty Images
Family photos published to the website "Justice for Sal, Gianni, and Ilona."
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Carlo Mercado's home in Mira Mesa, north of San Diego.
Getty Images
Carlo Mercado at his arraignment in June 2014.
SDPD
Gianni Belvedere, 24, was considered a missing person in the days after the Christmas Even shooting, not a person of interest in the slayings.
Andre Briones
A friend of Ilona Flint (L) said she was the most patient person he'd ever met.
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The post from the sister of Gianni and Salvatore, asking for help finding Gianni.
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The scene of a double shooting on the morning of Christmas Eve - the parking lot near the Macy's in Mission Valley.
Facebook
(L-r) Gianni Belvedere, Ilona Flint and Salvatore Belvedere in a Facebook photo. A friend of Ilona's said the brothers would take turns picking her up from her job because she didn't own a car.
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The scene of a double shooting on the morning of Christmas Eve - the parking lot near the Macy's in Mission Valley.
Facebook
(L-r) Gianni Belvedere, Ilona Flint and Salvatore Belvedere in a Facebook photo.
SDPD
Gianni Belvedere, 24, has been missing since the shootings of Flint -- his longtime girlfriend-turned-fiancee -- and Salvatore Belvedere, his younger brother. Police consider Gianni a missing person at this point, not a person of interest in the slayings.
SDPD
Gianni Belvedere, 24, has been missing since the shootings of Flint -- his longtime girlfriend-turned-fiancee -- and Salvatore Belvedere, his younger brother. Police consider Gianni a missing person at this point, not a person of interest in the slayings.
Courtesy of Carlos Cortez
The scene in Riverside, Calif., after police found a car tied to Gianni Belvedere in the parking lot of a shopping center on Jan. 17, 2014. Inside the vehicle, police discovered the body of a man.
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Carlo Mercado at a pretrial hearing in July 2014.
NBC 7 San Diego
Carlo Mercado appears at his preliminary hearing in San Diego in early September 2014.
NBC 7 San Diego
On Jan. 12, 2017, Carlo Mercado, 31, changed his plea to guilty in the mysterious 2013 triple killings of brothers Gianni and Salvatore Belvedere and Ilona Flint.
During that felony arrest, his fingerprints and DNA samples were entered into the state database.
On June 18, the search warrant says a data bank administrator notified SDPD detectives that they had a match for the triple homicide suspect’s DNA profile: Carlo Mercado.
The California DOJ worked with the SDPD to transfer evidence in Mercado’s case, including his .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun.
The SDPD firearms unit examined the gun and compared its shell casings to casings found inside the vehicle where Salvatore and Flint were killed.
The criminalist believes Mercado’s gun fired the shots at all three victims, a firearms analyst testified at Mercado's preliminary hearing Tuesday.
However, the detective who wrote the search warrant says he is not sure if he believes Mercado acted alone or if he had co-conspirators. He hasn't determined a motive in the killings, either.
Mercado's defense attorney questioned homicide detectives at Tuesday's pre-trial hearing about the victims' drug use suggesting that may have been a factor in the case.
Detective Timothy Norris testified Salvatore had completed a 3-month rehab for heroin addiction, Flint smoked heroin and a drug dealer told police that Gianni had bought heroin from her daily since August 2013. Gianni's alleged heroin habit cost up to $250 a day, Norris testified.
When the search warrant was executed after Mercado's June 20 arrest, the detective hoped to find clothing worn during the slayings, documents that tied Mercado to the victims or their families or other electronic evidence.
Officers seized boxes of ammunition, documents, CDs, computers, clothes, external hard drives and more from Mercado’s Mira Mesa home. They also found the same type of duct tape in Mercado's closet that was used to hold down the Febreze nozzle inside the Riverside trunk, a crime scene specialist testified.
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