commentary by Patrick H. Moore
You know I feel so dirty when they start talking cute
I wanna tell her that I love but the point is probably moot — “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield
Most of us have struggled with romantic jealousy from time-to-time, especially when we were young. If you are young and you find yourself in this uncomfortable position, I suggest that you find some effective way to distract yourself from the green-eyed monster. If you’re a guy, you might plunge body and soul into the NFL (Hell, I’ve done that for much of my life and still haven’t sustained a concussion) or find a new subject for your romantic desire. If you’re a girl, you may want to turn to your best friends to commiserate or go out on the town for some fine cuisine, or, when the time is right, find a new boyfriend.
Pedro Bravo smiling
When Pedro Bravo found himself in this position in 2012, he did not turn to the NFL. Nor did he find a new subject for his desire. (Note that I avoid using the word “object”. Women (and men) are not “objects” and should not be thought of in that manner.) Instead, he allegedly concocted a plan to murder his longtime pal Christian Aguilar.
Allegedly is probably no longer the operative term here considering that on Friday, a jury of his peers needed only a few hours to find Pedro guilty of seven charges which unfortunately included kidnapping and murder.
Christian Aguilar smiling
On the witness stand, Pedro argued that although he intended to kill his best friend Christian (never kill a Christian; it’s bad karma), he couldn’t go through with it and instead injured him and left him lying by the side of the road. Although I suppose this could be true, the jury certainly didn’t see it that way.
That fact that Christian ended up good and dead undoubtedly did not help Pedro’s cause. This, in combination with other strong evidence sealed the deal.
Deborah Hastings of New York Daily News writes:
It took only hours after both sides finished arguing the case for the jury to come back with a guilty verdict on all seven charges, which included murder and kidnapping.
One hour after the verdict, a judge sentenced Bravo to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder conviction. A shackled Bravo denied he killed his friend before the sentence was handed down.
“I did not kill Christian Aguilar,” Bravo told the court. “I did not do anything to hurt my friend beyond that point that caused him to die. I know in my heart what I did and God know(s) what I did. I’ll take whatever sentence is given to me … and I will do it.”
Based on the judge’s sentencing decision, however, Pedro has little choice other than to accept the sentence meted out to him.
There were two very powerful pieces of evidence that worked against him:
The shovel in question
First, Bravo purchased a shovel, sleeping pills, duct tape and a knife in Gainesville, where he and Christian were attending the University of Florida, shortly before taking him on his final ride.
During closing arguments, prosecutor Bill Ezzell put it this way:
“He literally bought the murderer’s starter pack.”
While testifying on his own behalf on Thursday, Bravo claimed that he purchased the items because he intended to kill himself, but then couldn’t go through with it.
The problem with this explanation, as I see it, is that Bravo had no way to explain away the shovel simply because once dead, he would have no way of burying himself. Though if you really wanted to get technical, I suppose he could have dug a grave for himself prior to swallowing the pills. He could then have climbed down in the grave, duct taped his mouth and nose to start the process of asphyxiation, and then ran himself through with the knife. Then, while bleeding copiously, with his last remaining strength, he could have reached up and pulled the dirt down over him, covering himself. At least that’s how I would have done it.
Erika Friman
But to return to our starting point, it was jealousy that caused Bravo to kill Christian. He and Aguilar had been friends for years, but according to the authorities, they had a falling out over a girl, Erika Friman, who used to date Bravo. The relationship did not work out and Erika began seeing the 18-year-old Aguilar.
All three young people had all attended Doral Academy and then ended up in Gainesville to attend college.
The second strong piece of evidence that the prosecutor brought up in court was the fact that Bravo asked his iPhone Siri app where to find a proper remote location to bury Aguilar’s body. According to the evidence, Siri asked Bravo: “What kind of place are you looking for?” and provided possible locations including ‘swamps’, ‘reservoirs’, ‘metal foundries’ and ‘dumps’.
To make it worse, WFOR-TV claims that Bravo’s statements to police concerning the night Christian died kept changing.
Apparently, Bravo initially stated that “he and Aguilar had been riding in his car when the two argued over Friman. But on the witness stand Thursday, Bravo admitted he had physically attacked Aguilar and the two got into a fistfight.”
“I strike him with an open palm on the face and I strike him again on the other side of the face and then I slip and hit him with an elbow,” Bravo testified.
Bravo told the Court that he then left Aguilar on the side of the road, injured but still alive.
Bravo was arrested shortly after Aguilar’s body was found weeks later in a field.
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Although some commentators have been having a bit too much fun with this story, riffing on Bravo’s lack of “smarts” (and I’m also obviously guilty of this), the fact of the matter is one young man is dead and a second young man will spend the rest of his natural days in a Florida state penitentiary, all because Bravo allowed himself to become convulsed with jealousy when Ms. Friman started dating Christian. I can’t help but wonder to what degree the fatal flaw of machismo figured into this off-kilter equation.