Family member asked for life sentence in 2019 Hale County homicide

Adena Arriaga stepped up to the podium in front U.S. Judge James Wesley Hendrix and told him that a life sentence for the man who killed her nephew two years ago was the only punishment that would bring her family a sense of peace and justice.

Arriaga was one of more than a dozen of Chad Luera's family members who packed into Hendrix's courtroom earlier this month for the sentencing hearing of Alexander Yoichi Duberek, the 24-year-old San Diego man who dated Luera for a year before stabbing him 93 times then leaving his body on the side of a road in the Seth Ward area of Hale County.

"All the makeup in the world couldn't cover the stab wounds behind Chad's ear, along his face, jawline, neck and his hands where it was evident that he was trying to shield himself from the knife-wielding monster that was the defendant," she said.

Duberek faced up to life in prison after pleading guilty in September to a count of interstate domestic violence. He admitted to crossing state lines with the intent to stab Luera to death.

Arriaga told the court that before killing her nephew, Duberek went to Chad's home where he lived with his parents and smiled as he looked them in the eye and shook their hands before taking their son into his vehicle where he kept the tools he bought hours earlier to execute his deadly plan.

"The heinous crime the defendant committed in taking Chad's life as he did is evidence that he should never have the opportunity to live as a free man," Arriaga said.

She described her nephew as the light of her family, who loved decorating for holidays, making meals for his family, particularly his chicken spaghetti, and even helped them with tech support.

"We miss his laughter, his voice, his smile, his compassion, his loving ways," she said.

She said Chad, who was 30 when he was killed, rarely left home and was a later bloomer.

"Chad was just coming into his own," she said. "Chad suffered from anxiety. He wasn't a fighter and he hated large crowds and dark places. He didn't drive."

However, she said her nephew had plans to travel and finally meet the many friends he man online in person.

"He had so much to explore, to discover, to share with the world," she said. "Chad was robbed of the chance to do any of it. We mourn not only because Chad is no longer here. We mourn for all he could have been. We mourn because we'll never know what successes he might have accomplished, what dreams he could have realized."

Before Arriaga delivered her victim impact statement, she and her family spent hours listening to an expert witness called by defense attorneys in a bid to spare Duberek the maximum sentence.

A sentencing guideline resulting from a pre-sentencing report provided Hendrix with a suggested punishment range between 24-30 years in prison. Duberek's minimal criminal history and acceptance of responsibility were significant factors in the range.

However, the report noted that a life sentence would be appropriate if the court found Duberek's actions were premeditated. Meanwhile, a separate provision allowed for a downward variance if Duberek could show that he was coerced or under duress when he killed Luera, whom family members said he planned to marry.

For about two hours, Dr. Marti Loring, the director of the Center for Mental Health and Human Development in Georgia, testified about her opinion of Duberek's mental state, which she derived from reviewing the defense investigation and speaking with the defendant, his ex-girlfriend and his brother.

She said during her interview with Duberek she saw signs that indicated he was on the autism spectrum, which would have made him more vulnerable to coercion or manipulation. She told the court that Duberek also suffered from a host of mental illnesses and admitted to gouging his arm with a screwdriver during episodes of self harm.

However, she said her suspicion of Duberek's autism was not based on a formal diagnosis.

Loring said Duberek believed he was threatened into a long-distance relationship with Luera, which began in September 2019. She said Duberek told her Luera convinced him that an internet group he identified as "Anons" would kill him and his family if he broke up with Luera or failed to keep him happy.

Court records state Duberek traveled from San Diego to Plainview at least three times during the relationship to spend time with Luera.

She said the stress of the forced relationship led to a mental breakdown months before the slaying when his father found him in the fetal position saying he couldn't take it anymore. She said he was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Loring told the court that Duberek regretted killing Luera, saying he never planned to do it. Instead, he only wanted to scare Luera into ending the relationship and the threats against him.

However, she said she believed Duberek entered into a dissociative state when the threat failed to convince Luera to end the relationship and Duberek began stabbing Luera multiple times. She compared the situation to someone experiencing battered spouse syndrome.

However, Loring admitted the records she reviewed contained no documentation that corroborated Duberek's statements. Investigators did find a document in Luera's computer that contained a "termination agreement" that included a clause that stated both Duberek and Luera would be castrated if they ended the relationship.

However, it was not clear who created the document.

Loring said she didn't believe Duberek would pose a threat to the public if he were released from prison, and would do well on supervised release.

Prosecutor Callie Woolam argued that none of the evidence showed Duberek acted under duress and said Loring's comparison to Duberek's actions to battered spouse syndrome was outlandish.

She said Duberek's actions were cold, calculated and brutal.

Woolam said there was also no evidence of the cruelty Duberek said Luera inflicted on him. She read multiple statements from Luera's friends, most of whom he met online, who described him as a gentle, caring and generous soul.

She cited records that contradicted Duberek's characterization of Luera and showed Luera likely saved Duberek's life when he called Duberek's father in January 2020 after Duberek made suicidal comments during the mental breakdown. She noted that during his treatment, Duberek never mentioned he was being threatened into the relationship with Luera.

However, she said even if Duberek was telling the truth, it didn't excuse nor mitigate his actions. She argued that Duberek could have ended the relationship himself and severed contact with Luera, since they lived about 1,500 miles apart.

Instead, Duberek concocted an elaborate plan to kill Luera, the man he purported to love and even tattooed his name on his finger.

On Oct. 31, 2020, Duberek flew to Lubbock and told his family that he booked a room at the Comfort Suites hotel in Plainview. However, investigators discovered Duberek never made a reservation at the hotel.

Woolam said Duberek lied to Luera about when he would arrive in Lubbock to buy him time to prepare for the killing.

Once he arrived in Lubbock, Duberek hired a ride to the Sam's Club parking lot in Lubbock where he bought a 2009 Toyota Camry for $3,000 cash.

He then drove to a Walmart store in Lubbock where he spent more than $560 on what Woolam described as a "murder kit," a collection of tools he would use to kill Luera, which included new seat covers to cover up the blood, a gas can, a knife, a hatchet, a collapsible shovel, a head lamp, a flashlight, a backpack, bath towels, Febreze, water boots, shoes, a jacket, a change of clothing, and toiletries.

Location data that investigators obtained from Duberek's Google account showed he reached Luera's residence in Hale Center about 10:09 p.m.

Woolam said when Duberek picked up Luera, he told his parents about a date night he planned for the two of them that involved dinner and staying at a hotel. Duberek also convinced Luera to bring his electronic devices, which were never recovered.

The Google records did not show any more movement until about 11:17 p.m. when it indicated he was on FM 400, about 4 miles north of the secluded spot where Luera's body was found.

An autopsy showed Luera was stabbed 93 times, the documents state. Woolam said investigators believe the first stab wounds were in Luera's back, specifically his neck, indicating that Duberek managed to get Luera, who was much larger than him, to turn his back on him before attacking him.

Duberek fled the scene in Plainview and drove to Houston, where he abandoned the Camry. The vehicle was found and a search of the vehicle revealed blood in the back seat area and on the trunk latch. The collapsible shovel Duberek bought at Walmart was still in the trunk. A DNA test confirmed the blood in the vehicle was Luera's.

Duberek also erased his social media presence and lived off the grid for months, successfully evading law enforcement until he surrendered to police in California nearly five months after the slaying.

Woolam told the court that a life sentence was appropriate in the case because that is what Duberek gave Luera's family when he killed him. But unlike Lura's family, Duberek's family will still be able to visit him in prison.

Before Hendrix handed down the sentence, Duberek, who is being held at the Bailey County Jail, apologized to Luera's family for the pain he caused them, saying he realized it would be selfish to ask forgiveness. He said he was ready to accept his punishment but also asked for mercy.

Duberek's attorney David Sloan, argued to the court that a sentence within the recommended guideline would satisfy the requirements for punishment.

Sloan argued that a life sentence would disregard his client's decision to accept responsibility and spare Luera's family from going through a trial. He said it would also discourage other defendants from entering a guilty plea if they were going to receive the maximum punishment anyway.

Hendrix told Sloan that was the risk defendant's take when they enter into plea agreements with prosecutors.

Hendrix told Duberek that the 24-30 year sentence recommended to him was inadequate for the evidence before him.

He said the record showed that he was already unstable long before he met Luera. And while he didn't dispute Loring's 40 years of experience, he found that her opinion was not credible since it was not backed by any documentation.

He told Duberek that he couldn't ignore the premeditated nature of Luera's slaying, the multiple opportunities he had to abandon his plan.

He said the fact that he successfully hid from law enforcement for months after killing Luera also discredited Loring's battered spouse syndrome comparison.

Duberek also faces a murder charge in Hale County. Hendrix ordered that the life sentence he gave to run concurrently with the punishment resulting from the state charge, which ranged from five years to life in prison.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Family of slain Hale County man say life sentence for killer