Verdict in South Lake Tahoe murder trial: Guilty on all counts

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - On Tuesday, a jury of six men, six women found Tevarez Richard Lopez guilty of murdering Dennis "Spike" Wright, Jr. at the Beverly Lodge in South Lake Tahoe on January 30, 2016. The jury also returned verdicts of guilty on the other counts and special circumstances as well: Being engaged in a robbery where murder was committed; two counts of second-degree robbery, both with firearms involved; and conspiracy with transportation of marijuana. Because of the use of firearms, Lopez faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Lopez's defense attorney James Warden told Superior Court Judge Suzanne Kingsbury that is was "highly likely" a new trial and new counsel would be requested. There is a tentative court date on January 6, 2022, to check in on that situation.

Lopez is the second person to be found guilty by a jury for the murder of Dennis "Spike" Wright, Jr. after the victim brought 100 pounds of marijuana to sell to prospective buyers at the motel.

The Lopez trial got underway on November 9, 2021, and the jury went into deliberations at the end of the day on Tuesday, November 23. They continued on the morning of the 24th then broke for the Thanksgiving holiday, resuming Tuesday, November 30 when the verdict was read just after 10:00 a.m.

On January 30, 2016, Wright, who was 40-years-old at the time, traveled to South Lake Tahoe with his girlfriend Kyndra Ghiorso to sell 100 pounds of marijuana in a prearranged transaction at the Beverly Lodge. The buyers showed up as planned but pulled out of the deal and left. As Wright was packing up the bagged marijuana into his truck, two men approached and demanded money. A scuffle occurred, Ghiorso was struck on her head with a gun, her purse and a lunch bag were stolen, Spike was shot, and the two men ran away.

Since the sale hadn't gone through, there was no money.

During the trial, the prosecutor Casey Mandrell laid out a series of events that led to the South Lake Tahoe shooting. The transaction was originally planned for Friday, January 29, 2016, when Lopez, Wright, and Ghiorso went to the Shingle Springs home of Tug Keller, Lopez's landlord in Georgetown and the man who helped organize the sale. At the house, they put the marijuana in turkey bags and stuffed it into three duffle bags.

Wright and Ghiorso headed to South Lake Tahoe with the bags of marijuana in their truck, while Lopez and Keller headed up in another vehicle. The buyers wanted to meet at a home on Kingsbury Grade in Nevada, but Spike didn't want to travel over state lines with the 100 pounds due to higher penalties just in case he was caught by law enforcement.

Keller got a room set in South Lake Tahoe. The agreement had been to sell the marijuana at $1,000 per pound for a total of $100,000. The transaction was originally going to get each Lopez and Keller a $100 per pound fee for putting the deal together. On the trip up, the fee didn't work for Wright and the sale was called off.

During the trial, it was shown through multiple text and phone records that on the following day, January 30, Lopez wanted to get the deal going again, but this time he involved a group of acquaintances from the Vallejo area. The first calls between Dion Vaccaro and Lopez started at 8:15 a.m. that morning, followed by a call between Lopez and Keller, then a "flurry" of communications between Harvest Davidson, Vaccaro, Andrew Adams, Keller, and Spike at 11:00 a.m.

"There was ample time to plan the robbery, and even get out of it," said Mandrell of the Saturday timeline.

Lopez was at a funeral Saturday and never was in South Lake Tahoe at the time of the murder but with the verdict, the jury believed he was responsible for assembling the other five men to head to the Beverly Lodge and steal the expected $100,000.

Three of the suspects were filmed being in the Ski Run Liquor Store across the street from the motel just before the shooting, with two checking into the Heavenly Lodge just after it. A bullet matching one found at the murder scene was found the following day in the parking lot of the Lodge.

During closing arguments, Mandrell said Lopez was "responsible for everything. If not for him, the others wouldn't be in Tahoe and Dennis would be alive."

As he gave his closing argument, Warden said Lopez was "not responsible for something he did not do. The robbery doesn't have anything to do with Lopez."

"What happened in Tahoe was Dion (Vaccaro)," said Warden. He questioned Mandrell's use of the word "mastermind" when describing his client. He also argued there were many holes in Mandrell's timeline.

Families from both the victim's and defendent's sides were present during the trial.

After the jury was dismissed, Judge Kingsbury talked of Lopez's prior felony, something the jury never heard in trial. He had been arrested on a felony criminal complaint in Butte County on February 14, 2002. He pleaded no contest on "assault with a firearm" charges and was placed on five years of probation. That was one strike on the three-strikes rule. What they did hear during the trial was the description of a marijuana grow operation at Lopez's Georgetown home with a few hundred plants of about six feet in height.

Arrested for the robberies and murder were (arrest dates and suspect's name, age at the time of arrest):

2/16/16 - Tristan Batten, 18, was arrested in Vallejo, Calif.
2/17/16 - Harvest Davidson, 20, of Antioch, Calif. was arrested in Sacramento, Calif.
2/27/16 – Vanessa Muzio, 18, was arrested in New Mexico and has since pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder after the fact (girlfriend of Vaccaro).
4/19/16 - Domenic Randolph, 22, was arrested in Harrison County, Texas
4/28/16 - Tevarez Lopez, 33, of Georgetown, Calif. was arrested in the County Jail where he was being held on other charges
5/31/16 - Dion Jermaine Vaccaro, 26, was arrested in Oklahoma City.
9/15/16 – Andrew Adams, 25, was arrested in his hometown of Suisun City, Calif.

All except Muzio have been in jail or prison since their arrests.

On November 22, 2016, Batten withdrew his plea of not guilty and plead guilty to an amended criminal complaint that included four felonies surrounding Wright's murder and robbery. He had arranged to provide testimony against the other defendants but during Vaccaro's trial in 2020 refused to testify, knowing his deal for testifying would be off the table. He is now serving his sentence at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione. He is getting a new attorney and is expected back in court in the future. He is facing 25 years to life. At this time he is eligible for parole in February 2035.

On February 25, 2020, a jury of seven men and five women from South Lake Tahoe took just 80 minutes to find Vaccaro guilty of murdering Spike and of robbery. With a new lawyer, he filed a motion for a new trial, citing ineffective counsel during the trial. Judge Kingsbury denied that request and he is scheduled for sentencing in February 2022. Vaccaro faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In August 2021, Adams plead no contest to murder and robbery and was sentenced to 25 years to life. Since August August 30, 2021, he has been in the North Kern State Prison. According to the state's prison website, he is eligible for parole in September 2028.

Awaiting their trials are Davidson (currently in the Placerville jail), and Randolph (currently in the Placerville jail). They have been in custody since their 2016 arrests.