Ricardo Marquez murder trial postponed

UPDATE (06/09): A representative with the Office of the District Attorney says the Judge has postponed the trial until June 21 due to a possible Covid-19 concern.

EL PASO, Texas -- The murder trial continues for Ricardo Marquez, who was accused of killing Erika Gaytan three years ago.

Marquez and Gaytan attended a concert together in 2019 and later went to Marquez's home. Marquez told police that they had a small argument before she left his home, and she has not been seen or heard from since.

The video presented today showed a relaxed Marquez, shrugging questions answering with “uh -huh” and at times laughing.

Detective Rodriguez questioned Marquez in the evidence video about his feeling for Gaytan, asking about possible jealousy from male attention Gaytan received.

Detective Rodriguez brings up an incident at a bar that turned into a physical altercation after a man hit on Gaytan and angered Marquez by telling him he would "dance erotically on Erika." Marquez responded with profanities, and punches were thrown.

Still, Marquez stands firm on harboring no jealous feelings saying he and Gaytan were not in a serious relationship. 

The detective questioned if the attention Gaytan received from other men resulted in that "small" argument.

The interrogation video continues with detective Rodriguez saying evidence was found in the back of Marquez’ brother's jeep, confirming that Gaytan was in it. 

He says this is important because Marquez borrowed the jeep at 11:30 a.m., that's more than 9 hours after Marquez says he last saw Gaytan.

The detective says the evidence found in the back of the jeep was Gaytan’s blood. Marquez asked the detective how they knew it was Gaytan's blood.

“I'm not telling you this science is telling you this," responded detective Rodriguez.

Detective Rodriguez said the possibility of identification error was zero. And the forensic evidence gathered puts Gaytan's blood combined with Marquez's saliva in the back seat of the jeep past the time Marquez said he saw her last.

This is conflicting with a discussion had earlier this week with forensic experts who said they found no blood in the shovel and that they couldn't determine if the blood found in the Jeep belonged to Gaytan.

The trial will continue Thursday.