Plea deal reached in murder of Hawaii Loa Ridge lawyer
Mar. 21—A 25-year-old Colombian man negotiated a plea deal that will help him avoid life in prison with no parole when he is sentenced July 3 for the 2022 strangulation death of a 73-year-old lawyer at his Hawaii Loa Ridge home.
A 25-year-old Colombian man negotiated a plea deal that will help him avoid life in prison with no parole when he is sentenced July 3 for the 2022 strangulation death of a 73-year-old lawyer at his Hawaii Loa Ridge home.
Juan Baron in 2022 had admitted to Los Angeles police that he concealed Gary Ruby's body in a cement-filled bathtub, stealing Ruby's identity, luxury Hawaii Loa Ridge home and car. He pleaded guilty Monday before Circuit Judge Catherine Remigio to charges including second-degree murder in Ruby's death sometime between Jan. 19, 2022 and March 7, 2022.
The plea agreement indicates the defense used its allegation of misconduct by the deputy prosecutor as a bargaining chip to secure the agreement.
Baron's attorney Myles Breiner told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in October that his client submitted a plea offer after the deputy prosecutor on the case had been terminated in September, and if the plea offer were rejected, "we will resume the motion to dismiss."
The state agreed to waive extended-term sentencing, which would have increased the life sentence with the possibility of parole to life without parole, in exchange for the guilty plea.
The parties agreed to recommend to the Hawaii Paroling Authority that Baron serve a minimum 20 years' imprisonment for the murder and first-degree identity theft, and a minimum of 10 years for two counts of first-degree theft.
Breiner on July 25 had filed a motion to dismiss the case, alleging misconduct by Deputy Prosecutor Catherine Lowenberg, head of the Elder Abuse unit of the Honolulu Prosecutor's Office. She allegedly used photos of Ruby in a PowerPoint presentation referring to "predators " and "lonely adults."
A continuation on the hearing of that motion was canceled, according to the agreement.
Had Baron gone to trial, previously set for October, and been convicted, prosecutors could have sought extended sentencing on the basis of the victim's age of 60 or older.
Baron admitted in his plea agreement that he took control of Ruby's property at 357 Lelekepue Place beginning Jan. 19, 2022, to March 7, 2022. The home is worth at least $2.195 million, which is what Ruby paid for it in March 2020. It sold Sept. 9, 2022, for $2, 657, 500.
He also admitted to obtaining and exerting unauthorized control over Ruby's 2020 gold Audi A6 automobile, which police estimated at the time was worth over $63, 000.
The plea agreement shows he is "currently considered a visa overstay " and will be detained as such. If he is granted parole, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement will take custody of him and initiate his deportation.
Baron, originally from Colombia, had been living in Texas.
On March 7, Ruby's brother called and asked police to do a welfare check because his brother had not been heard from in three weeks, saying Ruby had a new love interest named Juan, who was much younger than him.
Friends and family described Ruby as a caring, generous, cultured man who was a lawyer and did well in investing but apparently did not practice law in Hawaii, where he lived for more than 40 years.
Missing-persons detectives who went to the home the afternoon of March 7 were met by Baron, but they could not find Ruby. HPD's Homicide Detail took over the scene 8 :30 a.m. March 8. Ruby's body was discovered that afternoon.
Baron and another man, Scott Hannon, then 34, of Massachusetts, had already flown to California, where the two were caught by Los Angeles police.
Baron was caught in Anaheim hiding in the crawlspace of a Greyhound bus bound for Mexico, and arrested, while Hannon was arrested in Inglewood and later released for lack of evidence. Hannon later turned state's witness.
Baron confessed to Los Angeles detectives he strangled Ruby with a belt, saying they had been dating and after the two had sex Ruby told him he was HIV-positive.
He dragged the unconscious 73-year-old into a bathtub, then slit his wrists to stage a suicide, court documents say. He poured bags of cement over the body, and used coffee grounds to mask the stench of the decomposing body.
