The victim in a murder case that was resolved with a plea deal this week was killed by an alleged gang boss who thought the Iraq War veteran-turned-dealer was stealing from him, according to court documents obtained Wednesday.
Martin Lopez Torres, 44, pleaded guilty Tuesday to murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a gun. As part of the plea deal, a sentencing enhancement for the discharge of a gun causing death was dismissed.
Torres, who has been in custody since Feb. 2, 2020, pleaded guilty to killing 34-year-old Adrian Darren Bonar of Escondido Oct. 4, 2019.
Co-defendants Antonio Silva Lopez and Nicolas Colunga are awaiting trial. Torres is the uncle of Silva Lopez, according to a trial brief from Deputy District Attorney Nick Thomo.
Bonar’s body was found in the trunk of a Lexus discovered abandoned Oct. 17, 2019, on Santa Ana Canyon Road west of Gypsum Canyon Road, underneath the connector road of the Riverside (91) Freeway to the Foothill (241) Toll Road.
Bonar served in the U.S. Army from 2005 through 2009, when he was honorably discharged. He saw combat in Iraq, police said.
Silva Lopez’s alleged gang “focuses primarily on trafficking narcotics from Mexico throughout Southern California,” Thomo wrote in a trial brief for Torres, who pleaded guilty just as the case was about to go before a jury.
Bonar was kidnapped and killed in October 2019 and Justin Silva was kidnapped and tortured in November of that year, Thomo alleged.
“Bonar and Silva were two drug dealers working for Silva Lopez,” Thomo alleged.
Lopez used his property at 2502 and 2504 N. Bristol St. in Santa Ana for his drug business, Thomo wrote. Bonar was killed at that location, Thomo added.
Colunga, who also allegedly works for Lopez, was accused of sexually assaulting Silva while he was held in Lopez’s residence, Thomo said. Justin Silva “was tortured for over 30 hours,” Thomo alleged.
Bonar and Justin Silva went to 2504 N. Bristol on Oct. 4, 2019, to meet with Lopez for a drug deal, Thomo said.
“He told Justin Silva to leave the property because Adrian (Bonar) `had to go to rehab,”’ Thomo said, adding Lopez thought Bonar was stealing from him.
On Oct. 15, 2019, Anaheim police received a call of a suspicious car near Gypsum Canyon off the 91 and 241 freeways, Thomo said. The car was ticketed.
Police returned to the car a couple days later after receiving more calls about it and noticed a foul odor from it and then found the decomposing body in the trunk, Thomo said.
A witness led police to Lopez, where officers rescued Justin Silva, who was “nearly dead,” Thomo said.
Justin Silva was “tied to a chair, beaten, cut with machetes, and held at gunpoint,” Thomo said. “He was duct-taped to a metal ladder and had a gasoline-soaked rag stuffed in his mouth and his mouth was duct-taped shut. At some point during his imprisonment, he was taken to the bathroom. He was shaved and forced to orally copulate Nicholas Colunga.”
Another attacker sexually assaulted the victim, Thomo said. When the victim fought back he was locked in a closet until police rescued him, Thomo said.
Torres admitted to investigators he helped tie up Bonar, beat him and then shot him, Thomo said.