Former Trojans arrested after murder

In the early morning of Oct. 18, Alameda County Fire Department responded to a house fire on San Carlos Avenue. The firefighters soon discovered a woman’s dead body amid the ashes, and sheriff’s detectives were called to the scene.

The investigation led authorities to Christian Birdsall-Hernandez, 16, and Cody Nicosia, 18, two former CVHS students who were arrested on suspicion of murder and arson on Oct. 25.

Nicosia attended CVHS from 2008 until his graduation earlier this year.

Birdsall-Hernandez attended CVHS from 2010 through the spring of 2012 and was attending Redwood Alternative High School this year.

After the arrests, the sheriff’s office had a press conference and presented the following information about the case:

Victim Barbara Latiolais, 58, lived in the San Carlos Avenue home with her boyfriend, Michael Rice, 60. Birdsall-Hernandez was very distantly related to Rice, and had previously done yard work for the couple, according to the sheriff’s office.

On Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 8:00 a.m., Birdsall-Hernandez and Nicosia hid at the residence. Knowing Rice was out of town, their intent was to burglarize the house and steal valuables like jewelry and loose change, as well as guns. Birdsall-Hernandez had become aware of Rice’s registered guns and expressed interest in shooting, said Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson.

Rice had promised to take him shooting once he returned from his trip, and this notification gave Birdsall-Hernandez the idea for the timing of the break-in, Nelson said.

The suspects waited outside for Latiolais to leave until about 12:00 p.m., but because she did not end up leaving, they came up with an alternative plan, Nelson said.

Birdsall-Hernandez knocked on the door between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. and asked Latiolais if he could come in to do some extra work for her. She agreed, and while Latiolais was somewhere else in the house, Birdsall-Hernandez opened the back door and let Nicosia in, Nelson said.  He hid somewhere in the house.

Some time later, according to Nelson, Nicosia jumped out and grabbed Latiolais in a strangle hold. Police later discovered that her carotid artery was cut off, meaning that she did not die at that point, but became unconscious.

The boys then went through the house and looted it for guns, jewelry and money. At that point, Latiolais started making noises in her unconscious state and Nelson said the boys found a rope and used it together to strangle Latiolais to death between 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. At 5:00 p.m., the boys took her car and drove themselves to a local Castro Valley restaurant for a late lunch.

Afterwards, they met up with friends to hang out.

The boys realized that they had left evidence behind at Latiolais’ residence, so they returned around 10:30 p.m. that night with cans full of gasoline. According to the police report, they soaked Latiolais’ body with it and spread the gas around the house.

When they were satisfied, they lit a match and threw it in the house, closing the door and departing shortly before midnight, police said. At that time, the cause of the house fire was not yet known. However, detectives became suspicious after they discovered an accelerant (gasoline) had been used.

The following morning, Birdsall-Hernandez drove to school in Latiolais’ car. During his first period class, however, he realized that the car was too conspicuous, so he went back and dropped the car off at Brookdale Avenue in Castro Valley, Nelson said.

A neighbor on Brookdale Avenue saw Birdsall-Hernandez leaving Latiolais’ car and then returning to school. Noting the stranger as unfamiliar and the event as odd, he memorized Birdsall-Hernandez’s physical appearance, and then provided this information to the authorities, helping an artist create a composite sketch of him.

After a composite was released to the public, detectives investigated Latiolais’ connections.

“We wanted to get that composite out,” said Nelson. “Then investigators got to the homeowner and asked about who’d been in the household a certain number of times because generally, events like these aren’t random. Birdsall was one who was mentioned. Looking at the composite, and then looking at Birdsall, it was pretty close.”

After the composite was publicized, a relative of Birdsall-Hernandez saw the sketch and called in to identify him.

“Two things pointed at the same person,” confirmed Nelson.

The witness who had seen Birdsall-Hernandez on Brookdale Avenue was contacted shortly after. By the time detectives contacted him, he was in Tennessee. The detectives flew out to see him. They arranged a photo line-up and instantly, the witness pointed out Birdsall-Hernandez as the one who had left Latiolais’ car.

Officers arrested Birdsall-Hernandez at Redwood on Oct. 25. A warrant to search his place of residence on Rex Road in Hayward, where he lived with Nicosia and Nicosia’s father, was issued.

During the search, Nicosia looked at his father and said, “We killed someone,” Nelson said.

At that point, officers arrested Nicosia also. The two were booked on suspicion of arson and homicide.

The boys admitted to having sold about six to nine handguns and rifles. The police were also led to recover other guns stolen from Latiolais’ home that were hidden in Carlos Bee Park in Hayward.

Birdsall-Hernandez said that each of the boys made $800 from the burglary, according to Nelson, but sheriff’s officers think that the amount was much higher.

About 20 investigators have spent time working on this case.

An event like this is particularly startling to such a tight-knit community as Castro Valley.

“We were concerned, and the public was concerned, that we had a murderer running around Castro Valley,” Nelson said. “You’re in your own home, and you’re set up by someone you know. And that person jumps out and grabs you from behind… it’s a horror movie, except it wasn’t a movie. It was real, for her. You don’t think about this happening in somewhere like Castro Valley. You just don’t.”

Nelson also mentioned that Birdsall-Hernandez and Nicosia have been remarkably cooperative with the authorities.

“It’s very shocking. When Nicosia just said he killed someone, the cops knew they had to arrest him as well. They had no intention of arresting him at that point until he said it,” Nelson continued.

However, the boys also seemed to show little remorse.

“There’s not a lot of emotion there,” Nelson said. “A lot of times people lie to us, and so when they do tell the truth, they get a lot of emotion that comes with it. But there’s not a lot of emotion when it comes to these guys. They could be showing their remorse with their cooperation.”

Currently, Birdsall-Hernandez is being held at Juvenile Hall in San Leandro and Nicosia is at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.

Birdsall-Hernandez, a minor, cannot be considered for death penalty but could be sentenced to life in prison. As a legal adult, Nicosia does face the death penalty, although Alameda County has never sentenced a teenager to death, said Superintendent Jim Negri.

The case may take several years to proceed through the court system.