Murder trial begins for Manuel Sanchez, accused of killing Carlsbad man missing for 6 years
Brian Runnels went missing nine years ago, and the trial of the man police believed killed him began Monday.
Prosecutors in Fifth Judicial District Court in Carlsbad started building their case that Manuel Sanchez murdered Runnels and buried his body in a remote area outside of Carlsbad.
Meanwhile, defense attorney Lisa Torraco sought to cast doubt on the state’s version of events and the testimony of its witnesses while providing possible alternate reasons for Runnels’ death.
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His skeletal remains were found in April 2020 near the property where Runnels lived up until his disappearance in October 2014.
Sanchez was charged in the fatal shooting Runnels after Brett Roark in a police interview said he and Sanchez buried the body. Both Roark and Sanchez were charged with one count each of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
Roark's trial was scheduled for Feb. 12, 2024.
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Detectives said they corroborated Roark’s testimony through interviews with other witnesses, forensic experts, and a series of phone calls they said Sanchez made on the night of Runnels’ death.
A 14-person jury, including two alternates, was selected from a pool of 93 and began to hear testimony on the first day of the trial before District Judge Jane Shuler-Gray.
Here’s what happened as the trial started.
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Prosecutors say ‘cold case’ was solved
Assistant District Attorney Megan Kirtley began her opening statement by describing how Runnels went missing in 2014, and the initial investigation went cold.
She explained in 2020 Carlsbad Police Detective Tim Nyce was assigned the case and began reinvestigating leads from six years before.
He spoke to all the witnesses, she said, and struggled to find any credible explanation.
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That was until Roark was interviewed multiple times, and eventually told Nyce what the prosecution believed happened, Kirtley said.
“There were lots of stories and theories of what happened,” Kirtley said to the jury. “I expect you’re going to hear the term cold case. After years, no one knew where Brian had gone. The case went cold.”
That was until Roark told Nyce he and Sanchez went to Runnels’ camper on the night of his death.
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Sanchez shot Runnels, Kirtley said, and then he and Roark took the body out into a remote desert area and buried it.
“He didn’t see nothing,” Kirtley said. “He didn’t know nothing. That was a burden he didn’t want to carry anymore.”
Roark was able to give investigators the “general area” where the body was buried, Kirtley said, and Carlsbad Police worked with the Bureau of Land Management to identify areas that appeared disturbed between 2013 and 2016.
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They ultimately found Runnels’ skeletal remains, and Kirtley said the prosecution would prove Sanchez was his killer.
“The investigation did not end there,” Kirtley said. “I expect that you’re going to hear this wasn’t just a lucky guess.”
Defense says Sanchez unfairly blamed for murder. Presents alternate events
Torraco in her opening contended Sanchez’s girlfriend Jamie Murray arrived at the property in the 2400 block of West Greene Street on the last night Runnels was seen.
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She said Murray was there to bring his prescribed insulin to Sanchez and didn’t find him at the main house where he was staying.
Murray then went to Runnels’ camper, Torraco said, and didn’t find her boyfriend there either.
Sanchez and Roark joined Murray on her way back to the house, and Torraco said witnesses saw another man Mikey Sullivan pull out of the main property.
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Torraco said Murray also would testify she saw Runnels’ camper door shut, the light went out and a car pulled away.
She hoped this description of the night would cast doubt on the prosecution’s allegation and exonerate her client of the murder charge, and painted Roark as an unreliable, inconsistent witness.
“The last time Manny saw Brian, he was alive,” Torraco said. “The evidence the state has against Manny Sanchez is the word of Brett Roark. That’s it. Brett Roark blames everything on Manny. It all comes down to the credibility of Brett Roark.
“Brett Roark’s story is constantly changing. It’s almost like he’s making it up as he goes along.”
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‘I was shocked’ says expert who found Runnels’ remains
Terry Gregston, an environmental protection expert with the Bureau of Land Management’s Carlsbad Field Office took the stand to describe how she helped Carlsbad police find Runnels’ bones near the property.
She compared aerial photos taken from 2013 and 2016, noticing a “white smudge” she called a “mapping anomaly” on the second photo taken after Runnels went missing.
Gregston said she went out to the area to investigate the anomaly in person, and found human bones on the ground.
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“I was shocked,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to find human remains. I was expecting to find soil disturbance. It was hard.”
After texting police, a bone specialist was able to later confirm the bones were human, Gregston said.
Witnesses describe property where Runnels lived when allegedly murdered
The first witness called to the stand was Cynthia Appling, daughter of Thomas “Ace” Appling who owned the 120-acre property where Runnels lived at the time of his disappearance.
There was a trucking company and a water station on the property, she said, and Runnels oversaw tickets for customers purchasing water.
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She said Roark also lived on the property but was unsure where exactly and what his job was in working for Appling’s father.
Appling testified that she didn’t interact with either man socially but did oversee payroll and would occasionally give them their paychecks.
When Runnels didn’t collect his check, and no one heard from him for about a week, Appling said she went to the police station and filed a missing person’s report, but no one saw him again.
Runnels described as ‘friendly” and ‘dependable'
Jazell Carrasco, who was dating Thomas “Ace” Appling at the time of Runnels’ disappearance described the victim as a good worker and friendly.
“He knew all the truckers on a first-name basis,” she said. “He enjoyed his job, and did it well.”
She said Runnels, Sanchez and Roark were all working for Appling at the time of Runnels disappearance but was unaware of any past confrontations between the men.
The night of the alleged murder, Carrasco told the jury she was at the main house on the property with Appling and that Murray was there looking for Sanchez.
When questioned by the defense, Carrasco said Sullivan was also present, but she sent him away because Appling was sleeping.
What's next?
The trial will continue as the prosecution calls more witnesses that could also be questioned by the defense.
Still on the witness list is Brett Roark, the state's key witness who confessed to his role in burying the body and alleged Sanchez was the shooter.
Other witnesses yet to be called are Carlsbad Police Detective Tim Nyce, lead investigator on the case, and his partner Detective Joey Landgraf.
Other forensic experts were also likely to be called to testify, along with workers on the property at the time of Runnels' disappearance in 2014.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Murder trial starts for Manny Sanchez accused of killing Brian Runnels
