SLO man found beaten to death with sticks jammed in his body. Was it murder or self-defense?
Content warning: This story contains graphic details.
A man accused of beating an unhoused San Luis Obispo resident to death and jamming sticks into his body did so in self-defense, his attorney argued in opening statements Thursday.
But the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office claims the crime was murder.
Marco Cota, 45, is accused of murdering 64-year-old Rick Fowler on Nov. 20, 2021. At the time, the two were both unhoused and camping in the Bianchi Open Space behind Megan’s Organic Market.
The Bianchi Open Space runs parallel to Highway 101 from behind the market to Madonna Road. It follows San Luis Obispo Creek.
Fowler’s body was found in the dry creekbed near the intersection of Highway 101 and Madonna.
Photos showed Fowler’s head beaten to the point it was misshapen. His body was found lying face-down in the dirt with his pants pulled down below his buttocks, with sticks protruding from his eyes and rectum.
Another stick was also found lodged in Fowler’s neck, a retired San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office coroner detective testified.
The prosecution alleged Cota murdered Fowler while in a rage, while the defense argued Cota killed Fowler in self-defense.
Cota is charged with murder and mutilation of human remains. He faces up to a life sentence in state prison if convicted.
Self-defense argument ‘doesn’t hold weight,’ DA says
Cota told a detective that he forced sticks into Fowler’s body “to show you motherf--kers what evil looks like,” San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Melissa Chabra told jurors during her opening statements.
DNA evidence from Cota’s clothing the night of the homicide was a match for Fowler, she said, as was DNA from the branch inserted into Fowler’s rectum.
In two separate interviews, she said, Cota lied to law enforcement and said he has no idea who Fowler was or what happened to him.
In the third interview, she said, Cota admitted to the killing but said it was in self-defense.
Chabra said the evidence will show Cota stuck the sticks into Fowler’s body in retaliation for Fowler telling Cota, “f--k you.”
She told the jury to heavily consider Cota’s own statements in his law enforcement interviews as well as the amount of force used in the killing when evaluating the evidence.
“The claim of self-defense doesn’t hold weight,” she said.
Defense: Man ‘basically ambushed’ defendant into fight
Cota’s attorney James Askew told jurors Fowler targeted Cota after having a problem with him earlier that day.
He said his client was “basically ambushed” by Fowler and eventually Cota and Fowler ended up fighting on the ground.
A toxicology report showed Fowler had meth in his system at the time of his death, Askew said, while Cota’s toxicology report from the time of the crime showed he had marijuana in his system.
When it came to Cota’s law enforcement interviews, Askew said, Cota said on multiple occasions something to the effect of, “I didn’t mean to kill him” and “I was defending myself.”
It is unclear at this time whether Cota acquired any injuries during the altercation.
He also said witnesses will testify that Fowler was telling Cota statements to the effect of, “You’re going to have to kill me.”
The attorney added that the investigators who interviewed Cota on one instance asked several yes or no questions in a row, like “you killed him, didn’t you? Didn’t you?” and “you strangled him, didn’t you?”
Cota replied “yes” to both questions, Askew said, but there was no evidence Fowler was strangled. His cause of death was blunt force trauma.
“This isn’t going to be an easy case,” Askew told jurors. “Evidence will show he was defending himself.”
Body found with four sticks lodged inside, witnesses testify
San Luis Obispo Police Department Sgt. Joseph Hurni was the responding patrol officer to the scene, he testified.
The sergeant said he and his partner at the time were led to Fowler’s body by another unhoused woman who was camping in the area. He said he passed a few encampments on the way to the body.
When Hurni saw the condition of Fowler’s body, he said, he called the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, which also houses the Coroner’s Office, to investigate the death.
He said he called them because the death seemed criminal in nature.
“There were sticks that were inserted into various parts of his body that I don’t think you could survive or wouldn’t certainly be tolerant of if you were alive,” Hurni testified.
Hurni found Fowler’s wallet nearby, but he said he was unable to be 100% sure the wallet belonged to the body because of how disfigured the head was.
Hurni said he joined his partner in a brief conversation with Cota at the scene, but his testimony did not elaborate on what they talked about.
Retired San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Det. William Miller testified he also responded to the scene. He said he was called after sheriff’s deputies responded and thought the Coroner’s Office should also investigate.
Miller said he and the forensic pathologist who joined him at the scene helped take photos and move the body.
He said it was challenging to move the body and keep it in the same state it was found in because of the protruding sticks, but Fowler’s body was able to be successfully moved.
Photos shown in court show a bloody rock Miller described as “not insignificant in size” near Fowler’s body and rocks with a puddle of semi-dried blood at the scene.
When it came to the autopsy, Miller said, his role was to take evidence from the body extracted by the forensic pathologist and seal and transport it into evidence. He also took photos during the autopsy, he said.
Miller identified an approximately 2-inches-long stick lodged in Fowler’s left eye socket and a longer stick in the right eye socket. A stick that seemed to have been lodged then snapped off was located in Fowler’s neck.
The stick in Fowler’s rectum also damaged Fowler’s spleen, Miller testified. He said during the autopsy he cut off the portion of the stick outside the body for later DNA examination.
Miller said everyone who was involved with the autopsy followed strict protocols to ensure there was no cross-contamination of evidence.
Witness testimony is expected to resume Friday at 1:30 p.m.
This story was originally published February 2, 2024 at 9:00 AM.
