'It was a bloodbath': Trial begins for SLO man accused of beating roommate to death

A prosecutor told a San Luis Obispo County jury on Monday that an alleged murder victim was "completely brutalized, his body annihilated" by his roommate following an argument in November 2015.

Charles Chad Giese is facing a charge of murder for the killing of his then-roommate, Walter Ernest Vallivero, whose bloodied and nearly unrecognizable body was shown to jurors laying in a bathtub in a photo taken by sheriff's deputies in the mobile home the two men shared in rural San Luis Obispo.

Though his attorney reserved his opening statement until the prosecution rests its case, Giese, 42, was heard in audio recordings presented to jurors Monday telling an investigator that Vallivero, 54, had attacked him.

"He kept fighting me," Giese is heard saying on the recording.

If jurors agree with prosecutors that the alleged crime was premeditated and convict Giese of first-degree murder, he faces 26 years to life in state prison.

According to information released by the Sheriff's Office following Vallivero's death, deputies responded to Rancho Oaks Drive, a community of 10 manufactured homes on the outskirts of San Luis Obispo, on Nov. 16, 2015, for a report of a death. Initially calling the death suspicious, the Sheriff's Office later arrested Giese on suspicion of murder.

The Sheriff's Office claimed at the time that Giese confessed to killing Vallivero.

In a preliminary hearing in October 2016, Giese's mother testified that her son called her the day of the alleged killing from outside the San Luis Obispo Police Station saying he killed Vallivero and was going to turn himself in. Brenda Caves testified that she convinced her son to meet her first before she called authorities.

A medical examiner testified in that hearing that although Vallivero had several serious injuries, the fatal injury was a large laceration to the back of the head that fractured Vallivero’s skull, consistent with an injury caused by a baseball bat.

In his opening statement Monday, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Peuvrelle told jurors that Vallivero made "the biggest mistake of his life" when he agreed to sublease a room to Giese in December 2014.

"Months later, Walter Vallivero would be dead, lying in a pool of blood in his own bathtub, all because he tried to evict Mr. Giese," Peuvrelle said.

There had been several complaints from other residents about Giese's erratic behavior, as well as reported loud arguments and yelling coming from the house.

The prosecutor said in the months leading up to the alleged murder, Vallivero had sought the park management and owners' help in evicting Giese, who refused to leave.

Calling the scene a "bloodbath," Peuvrelle said deputies examining the inside of the home on Nov. 16, 2015, documented blood spatter on walls, curtains, televisions and on the ceiling, though attempts had been made to clean the interior.

A baseball bat, a 10-inch kitchen knife, and a broken 40-oz. bottle of Mickey's malt liquor were found in the home. Peuvrelle said 4-inch lacerations to the back of Valliveros' arms were defensive wounds caused by the broken bottle.

Dennis Carrington, a maintenance manager at the park, testified that Vallivero had inherited the home from his deceased parents, and became aware that Vallivero accepted Giese as a roommate without notifying the park's owners.

Carrington — who said Monday that he lived between 80 and 100 yards from their house — testified that he never heard arguing or yelling between the two but received complaints about them from other residents. On at least two occasions, Carrington said, Giese was reported by neighbors as being heavily intoxicated, wandering around the property, and in one incident, urinating in public.

In September 2015, Carrington said, an ambulance and sheriff's deputies were called to the house following a verbal altercation between the roommates that evolved into a fist fight in which Vallivero ended up on the losing end and in the hospital.

Carrington soon thereafter offered to help Vallivero go to the courthouse to initiate unlawful detainer proceedings and get a restraining order, which was not successful.

Even when Giese was given a 30-day notice to move, he stayed at the property.

"He was afraid for his life," Carrington recalled of his conversations with Vallivero. "They were arguing all the time, and it was getting more uncomfortable for him."

Under cross examination by Giese's attorney, Ilan Funke-Bilu, Carrington said he couldn't explain why he never told sheriff's investigators in his interviews with them that Vallivero was afraid of Giese.

"It didn't come up," Carrington said.

Shawn Reed, owner of the property, said he lived between 100 and 150 yeards away from the house and also never heard disturbances, but that he heard from other residents the two would argue when they drank.

Sheriff's Deputy Brandon Florentino, who responded to the house following the alleged fight in September 2015, testified that he interviewed both men and actually recommended the District Attorney's Office file a charge of assault against Vallivero.

Florentino testified that Giese — who did not appear drunk — told him Vallivero was drinking in the living room and told him to clean up, and pulled out a realistic looking BB handgun from under the sofa cushions. Giese told him he grabbed the gun and punched Vallivero in the face "more than once." The gun was later found outside.

From the hospital, Vallivero — who had a blood alcohol content of 0.22, nearly three times the legal limit to drive — told Florentino that he was arguing with Giese about cleaning when Giese walked up and began punching him in the face a half-dozen times.

Florentino said he recommended Vallivero be charged because he "thought Mr. Giese's statement was more credible."

Testimony continues Tuesday in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.

This story was originally published May 21, 2018 at 7:09 PM with the headline "'It was a bloodbath': Trial begins for SLO man accused of beating roommate to death."