An Oakley man allegedly set up and killed romantic rival on Valentine’s Day. Now his high school friend and mistress will take the stand against him

Defense calls it a ‘house of cards,’ but admits robbery plot

MARTINEZ — A 27-year-old Oakley man is on trial for the Valentine’s Day murder of a romantic rival after arranging for his mistress to set up the victim by messaging him on Instagram and arranging an evening rendezvous.

According to prosecutors, Jose Quintanilla is charged with murder and conspiracy in the death of 21-year-old David Olivares, a Brentwood resident whom Quintanilla accused of sleeping with his wife. As a result, Quintanilla allegedly plotted the assassination of Olivares, arranging for 24-year-old Sabrina Glenn to set up a meeting at Woodland Hills Park in Pittsburg and obtaining a ride to the park from his high school friend, 24-year-old Angel Rodriguez.

“(Olivares) thought he was going to have a first date on Valentine’s Day,” Contra Costa Deputy District Attorney Kevin Bell said in his opening statement to jurors on Monday. “Little did he know he was minutes away from being murdered.”

The defense will not deny the existence of a criminal conspiracy, but will argue that Quintanilla planned a robbery, not a murder, and that the prosecution cannot even place him in the park at the time Olivares died. Much of that evidence will be based on Rodriguez’s word, who, like Glenn, has agreed to testify against Quintanilla in exchange for leniency.

“The prosecution’s case is a house of cards,” defense attorney Alexander Guilmartin told the jury, adding that everything hinged on Rodriguez, “a witness who cannot be trusted.”

Bell went through the cast of characters who will play important roles in the trial during his presentation. Quintanilla, he claimed, was motivated by jealousy and had accused Olivares of “sleeping with my b—-,” referring to Quintanilla’s wife, in a social media message.

Glenn, Quintanilla’s mistress who worked as an exotic dancer at the time, was up next. Bell showed the jury pictures of the young woman wearing a g-string and posing provocatively, then claimed Quintanilla “manipulated” her into pretending to be romantically interested in Olivares by fabricating a story about Olivares sexually assaulting a member of Quintanilla’s family.

Rodriguez was brought into the plot, according to Bell, because he owed Quintanilla $200 for marijuana. He later told police that Quintanilla told him he only wanted to rob Olivares, and that when he gave him a ride to the park, he had no idea Quintanilla was armed.

Both Rodriguez and Glenn accepted plea deals for lesser offenses — robbery and assault, respectively — and it will be up to Judge John Kennedy to sentence them once the trial is completed. Guilmartin claims Rodriguez is the only witness who claims Quintanilla was at the park, but that his statements were a “desperate” attempt to “cover his butt” after a SWAT team raided his Brentwood home and took him to a Pittsburg police station for questioning.

“As he sat in that patrol car, he had a lot of time to think about what he wanted to say,” Guilmartin explained to jurors on Monday.

However, jurors will hear another piece of evidence: Quintanilla’s words, spoken as he and Rodriguez sat in the back of a police van outfitted with a listening device. When Quintanilla sees Rodriguez, he starts questioning him aggressively, demanding to know if he answered police questions.

“Because if you did, we’re f—-d, man,” Quintanilla says on tape.