Preliminary hearings show a history of abuse in Rose Campos case
EL CENTRO – After a week of witness testimonies regarding the rape and murder of Rose Jaime Campos, prosecutors have begun to paint a picture of defendant Antonio Ramirez Campos stalking, raping, and then murdering Rose in an act of domestic violence.
While Prosecutor John Harter has only called 7 out of 15 of their witnesses – including Campos Ramirez’s co-workers, investigators, and Rose’s tenant – prosecutors were able to establish that there had been multiple tracking agents attached to her vehicle, one which included a microphone.
In addition to the tracking devices, Harter presented a series of notebooks, journals, and planners, which were allegedly written by Rose Campos and discovered on her property, read allowed in court on Friday, June 30, which depicted Rose as seeking a restraining order against Campos Ramirez.
“I, Rose Jaime Campos, am requesting a restraining order against Antonio Campos Ramirez, because for many years he has abused me physically, psychologically, and sexually. Today, I would like to acknowledge that I have been in an abusive, emotional, and non-functional relationship. It took me multiple sexual abuses, acts manipulations, but today I came to terms that I cannot do this by myself. I need help for my safety and my family’s safety,” Rose Campos’ entry read.
The journal entries also referenced intense acts of sexual violence, including rape and sodomy, which included dates and detailed descriptions of events, that seem to predate the restraining order draft.
Campos Ramirez’s defense attorney, Armando Galvan Jr., objected fiercely about the reading of the journal, saying that that the prosecution was unable to prove that the journals were written by Rose.
The Hon. Judge Poli Flores, who is presiding over the hearing, ultimately overruled Galvan’s objection, deciding that journals were admissible for this hearing, though the objection could be revisited if the case goes to trial.
Harter also revealed more information about the victim’s cause of death, and the events that lead to the discovery of her remains. Deputies from the Imperial County Sheriff ’s office entered a piece of property owned by Rose, but was not her home address, with the assistance of Rose’s daughter Salma Vega.
After searching the property, Vega and the deputies discovered Rose lying in an empty studio apartment on the property in a pool of her own blood. She had sustained lacerations and contusions to the head and brain, along with a fractured and collapsed skull consistent with blunt force trauma.
Investigators said that the murder weapon was a hatched-like weapon, with one sharpened side and one blunt or rounded side.
The purpose of this hearing is to determine whether the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office has enough evidence to go to trial. With 8 more witnesses to testify, both Harter and Judge Flores estimate that the hearing will go well into next week.
“If it takes us two weeks to get through all of the witnesses then we will sit here for two weeks,” Judge Flores said during the hearing.