Gilroy police have arrested the third suspect in a murder investigation and are seeking a fourth in in a case that involved two women captured on surveillance video inside a convenience store, allegedly using a dead businessman’s credit card.
On Thursday, police announced the arrest of Gerardo Cisneros, 20, of San Jose in connection with the Feb. 16 death of 56-year-old Robert Heiser, who was found dead inside his Gilroy home. Cisneros was in custody on an unrelated matter in Alameda County, and was booked into Santa Clara County jail on murder charges, police said.
Police are still seeking Isabella Chaidez, 17, of San Jose, who is wanted in connection with Heiser’s death.
On March 2, Sgt. Pedro Espinoza said police arrested 22-year-old Rodrigo Bejarano in connection Heiser’s death, who also was in custody for an unrelated matter, police said, although they didn’t say for what. And on Feb. 23, police arrested Gabriella Bernice Ortiz, 19, of San Jose in connection with the same crime.
Ortiz and Chaidez were both seen on video using Heiser’s credit card, hours after he died, inside an unnamed East San Jose minimart, police said. It's unclear how Cisneros and Bejarano are involved with the death; neither are mentioned or appear in the surveillance video police relased.
An autopsy revealed Heiser had died of blunt force trauma, although Espinoza said there is no sign of forced entry into the home. Documents reveal that some electronics, though, were stolen from the house.
Espinoza said officers still don't know the connection between Heiser and the suspects. But he did say Heiser's death "wasn't random." He wouldn't elaborate.
According to an obituary in the Mercury News, Heiser, the sixth of ten children, was a “stand-out basketball player” in high school who built a “successful sales career” that included 14 years at Aspect Communications where he last served as regional vice president of foundation account sales, He also volunteered as site coordinator for the Gilroy distribution center of Second Harvest Food Bank.
