A state appeals court has upheld the murder conviction of a 65-year-old man for fatally stabbing a man 45 times in an El Monte motel room more than four decades ago.
In a ruling Wednesday, a three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s contention that there was insufficient evidence against Anthony Davis to support deliberate and premeditated murder in the Jan. 7, 1978, slaying of Rudolfo Chavez.
“Davis argues that the evidence supports his mere presence in the motel room. But Davis was the actual killer,” the appellate court panel found in its 48-page ruling. “The substantial evidence to support this determination centers around the physical and scientific evidence.”
The panel noted that Davis’ fingerprints were found in the room at the Spic and Span motel, where the 42-year-old victim’s body was found a day after the killing, and that his DNA was detected in a semen stain on the bedspread in the room, along with Chavez’s DNA.
“Based on these facts, the jury could reasonably infer that Davis engaged in some form of sexual activity in the company of Chavez. Further, Chavez’s clothing did not contain any damage from the stabbings, supporting the inference that he was stabbed to death while unclothed,” according to the ruling.
The motive for the attack was not clear, Deputy District Attorney Sarika Kim said after Davis was convicted in September 2022 of first-degree murder.
Davis — who is serving a state prison sentence of seven years to life — has remained behind bars since his arrest by Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators in February 2021.