Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Parsippany's Janet Saulter-Hemmer said Kleber Cordova's sentencing brought her closure.
One juror had to see it finished. She had to see Kleber Cordova sentenced. That was why Janet Saulter-Hemmer, one of eight women on the 12-person jury, came to the Morris County Courthouse Tuesday to see what her guilty verdict would bring. For Cordova, it brought a sentence of 45 years, for the murder of his wife Eliana Torres and five years for the endangerment of their daughter, who witnessed her father drown her mother in their Western Avenue apartment bathtub. "Justice was done," she said. "I just can't understand what would make a good father not stop." For Saulter-Hemmer, and for several other jurors she said, the turning point in their deliberations in April was when eight-year-old K.C. walked into the bathroom. "It was like God …
Kleber Cordova sentenced to 50 years, will not be eligible for parole for at least 38 years.
Noting the defendant's complete lack of remorse and no acceptance of responsibility in the 2008 death of Eliana Torres, Morris County Superior Court Judge David Ironson on Tuesday sentenced Kleber Cordova to 50 years in prison. On the count of murder, Cordova, an Ecuadorian immigrant in the country illegally, was sentenced to 45 years. He must serve 38 years and three months of that sentence before any eligibility of parole. At 33 years old, Cordova won't be eligible until he is 71. Defense Attorney Jessica Moses has already filed an appeal. Cordova also received an additional five years for endangering the welfare of a child, in reference to his then 8-year-old daughter, "K.C.," who witnessed Cordova drown her mother in the bathtub of …
40.79785
-74.48326
Morris County Courthouse
Washington St & Court St, Morristown, NJ
/articles/bathtub-murderer-sentenced-to-50-years
67262
/locations/7474701
Monday, July 23, 2012
Here's a look at what's going on in Morristown.
Ready for another busy workweek, Morristown? So are we! And, here are a few items for the busy week to keep on your radar:
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Kleber Cordova to be sentenced at the Morris County Courthouse.
Kleber Cordova is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday, July 24. The Ecuadoran native was found guilty of all charges in April in the 2008 drowning death of his wife, Eliana Torres. A jury of eight women and four men took approximately two hours to convict the Morristown man of the murder of Torres on May 8, 2008 in their Western Avenue apartment. Cordova also was found guilty of child endangerment, witness tampering, tampering with evidence and hindering apprehension. One of the couple's daugthers, Kelly Cordova, was eight-years-old at the time of the murder and witnessed the incident. The trial lasted about a month. Superior Court Judge David Ironson will hand out the sentencing, which is set to begin at 9 a.m. at the Morris County …
40.79785
-74.48326
Morris County Courthouse
Washington St & Court St, Morristown, NJ
/articles/bathtub-murderer-sentencing-scheduled-for-july-24
67262
/locations/7441098
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Kleber Cordova, of Morristown, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 25.
Kleber Cordova was found guilty of all charges Wednesday in the 2008 drowning death of his wife, Eliana Torres. A jury of eight women and four men took approximately two hours to convict the Morristown man of the murder of Torres on May 8, 2008 in their Western Avenue apartment. Cordova, 32, was also found guilty of child endangerment, witness tampering, tampering with evidence and hindering apprehension. The trial lasted about a month. Superior Court Judge David Ironson said sentencing will take place May 25 in his courtroom. Cordova showed little emotion as the verdicts were read by the jury forewoman. Outside the courtroom Torres’ sisters, Clarabella Solis and Zaida Solis, and her mother, Rita Valverde, held one another tightly in a …
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Also, judge denies motion to have charges reduced.
The defense team for Kleber Cordova, the Morristown man accused of drowning his wife in their Western Avenue apartment bathtub in 2008 opened their case Thursday with witnesses who testified about Cordova’s job and well being two days after the alleged crime. Earlier, Superior Court Judge David Ironson denied a motion by defense attorney Jessica Moses to have the murder charges reduced. Cordova, 32, is charged with murder, child endangerment, witness tampering, tampering with evidence and hindering apprehension in the May 2008 drowning death of his wife Eliana Torres, 25. He has pleaded not guilty. The prosecution, led by Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Maggie Calderwood, claimed that Cordova killed Torres after she told him she had …
40.79785
-74.48326
Morris County Courthouse
Washington St & Court St, Morristown, NJ
/articles/kleber-cordova-defense-opens-its-case
67262
/locations/6692254
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Defense for Kleber Cordova to begin its case Thursday.
Superior Court Judge David Ironson refused a defense motion Wednesday to declare a mistrial in the murder trial of Kleber Cordova, charged in the May 2008 death of his wife, Eliana Torres. Defense attorney Jessica Moses sought the mistrial after eliciting testimony from Torres’ sister, Zaida Solis, that contained what Moses said were lies. Moses suggested through questioning that Solis and her family had an agreement with the prosecution to help Cordova’s daughter, K.C., who is not a U.S. citizen, obtain a visa, and that the state made a deal not to prosecute Solis for possible crimes involving the transfer of funds from Cordova’s bank account. Assistant Prosecutor Maggie Calderwood vigorously denied any such deals had been offered. …
40.79785
-74.48326
Morris County Courthouse
Washington St & Court St, Morristown, NJ
/articles/judge-in-cordova-trial-tosses-mistrial-request
67262
/locations/6684136
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
K.C., then-eight-years-old, witnessed the incident that lead to Eliana Torres' death in May 2008.
For 45 minutes on Wednesday, the courtroom looked into a past where an eight-year-old girl said her mother and father were very kind to each other, that they never fight and that while Eliana Torres had been hurt, she was feeling better and soon could tell everyone what had happened earlier that morning of May 9, 2008. Nearly four years later, K.C., the daughter of accused murderer Kleber Cordova, testified before the jury on what she saw when she walked into the bathroom of her family's 85 Western Ave. apartment to find her father and mother in a filling bathtub. The testimony from K.C., now 12, took several hours, as the child needed several breaks to compose herself after breaking down on the witness stand. At first, K.C. kept her …
40.79785
-74.48326
Morris County Courthouse
Washington St & Court St, Morristown, NJ
/articles/accused-bathtub-murderer-s-daughter-takes-the-stand
67262
/locations/6635443
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Kleber Cordova's daughter gave testimony during a non-juried portion of Tuesday's proceedings.
Three relatives of accused murderer Kleber Cordova took the stand on Tuesday. Two wept, while one smiled. Omar Solis and Rita Valverde–brother and mother of Eliana Torres, who Cordova is accused of drowning in their Western Avenue apartment bathtub in May 2008–appeared visibly shaken and were given tissues during their testimony. But when K.C., Cordova's now 12-year-old daughter, took the stand during a non-juried portion of the proceedings, she smiled to her relatives in the audience, never once looking in the direction of her father. Also among witnesses to testify Tuesday were Michael Andrisano, the first Morristown Police officer to arrive following Cordova's breathless, almost-whispered call to 9-1-1 to report that his wife was dead. …
40.79785
-74.48326
Morris County Courthouse
Washington St & Court St, Morristown, NJ
/articles/family-members-emotional-on-second-day-of-bathtub-murder-trial
67262
/locations/6628010
Monday, March 19, 2012
Kleber Cordova is accused of drowning his wife in the bathtub of their Western Avenue apartment in May 2008.
The morning of May 9, 2008, should have been like any other morning for 8-year-old Kelly Cordova. But, Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Maggie Calderwood said on Monday afternoon, instead of waking up to go to her second grade class at Normandy Park School, Kelly Cordova instead woke to something horrific. Kelly was waking up to find her father, Kleber Cordova, murdering her mother, 25-year-old Eliana Torres. So began opening statements on March 19 in the trial of Cordova, now 32, who is accused of murder, child endangerment, witness tampering, tampering with evidence and hindering apprehension in the death of his wife in their Western Avenue apartment almost four years ago. He has pleaded not guilty. The start of the trial has been …
40.79785
-74.48326
Morris County Courthouse
Washington St & Court St, Morristown, NJ
/articles/four-years-later-bathtub-murder-trial-begins-in-morristown
67262
/locations/6626953
OIN 24
3:53 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Thank you Ms. Saulter-Hemmer for doing what so many of us dread doing. You did your job, and you did it well. It is refreshing to see justice done in NJ where political corruption seems to be the norm. Thank you again! more ›