Pretrial motions got underway Friday ahead of jury selection for the trial of two of three men accused of abducting, severely beating and fatally shooting an Anza man because they believed he might snitch on them for perpetrating thefts at marijuana grows.
George Frank Holley Jr., 42, of Oklahoma City and Nico Manuel Zahir, 30, of Anza are accused in the slaying of 42-year-old Brian Messina in 2020.
Both defendants are charged with first-degree murder, assault resulting in great bodily injury and a special-circumstance allegation of killing during the course of a kidnapping. Zahir is additionally charged with firearm assault, making criminal threats and false imprisonment.
Their co-defendant, 40-year-old Joe Anthony Serna of Anza, pleaded guilty in February 2024 to assault resulting in great bodily injury, firearm assault and making criminal threats. He’s being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center and is slated for sentencing on June 6.
On Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer received motions regarding witnesses, evidence, scheduling and other matters from the prosecution and defense. The judge directed all parties to return to the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta Monday for rulings and possibly the start of jury selection for the trial.
Both Holley and Zahir are being held without bail — Holley at the Benoit Detention Center, Zahir at the Robert Presley Jail.
Sheriff’s investigators allege that the men suspected Messina was secretly gathering evidence against them in connection with multiple armed thefts at illegal cannabis grows in the Azna Valley.
Holley was the first to make the allegation against his former friend, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by sheriff’s Detective Lance Stoyer. He wrote that Holley had witnessed Messina using his mobile phone to record audio of conversations the men had concerning the thefts.
“Holley privately spoke to Serna about the recordings and planned to search Messina’s cellular phone without Messina’s knowledge or consent,” according to the affidavit.
The men were ultimately able to access the phone, and while scanning data, “Serna saw a social message that Messina had sent (stating) that if he — Messina — were to go missing or found dead, Serna would be responsible for the murder,” Stoyer said.
The three alleged conspirators became convinced Messina was a liability, prompting a confrontation at a residence in the 39600 block of Howard Road in Anza on the night of Nov. 29, 2020, according to court papers.
In a later interview, Holley told detectives that a verbal altercation erupted, and Serna and Zahir attacked the victim, with Zahir pistol-whipping him and Serna kicking him multiple times, the affidavit alleged.
The defendants beat Messina into submission, then forced him into a Toyota Tundra pickup and drove to a remote section of Bautista Road, where they all got out, at which point Zahir used a shotgun to execute the victim on the side of the road, Stoyer alleged.
None of the men has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.