Temecula Man Imprisoned For 19 Years In Murder He Didn't Commit

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — After a Temecula man served 19 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, two men accused in the killing were ordered Tuesday to stand trial.

Googie Rene Harris Sr., 64, of Jurupa Valley and Joaquin Latee Leal, 54, of Compton, allegedly killed Terry Cheek more than two decades ago. On Tuesday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz found there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial for the uncle-and-nephew duo.

Cheek, who was Harris' wife, was killed in 1998. She was strangled and her remains were found on a rock outcropping near Lake Corona in Temescal Valley. Harris and Leal are each facing a murder charge in the case, as well as a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait.

Harris' son, Googie Rene Harris Jr., 40, of Palm Desert, pleaded guilty in 2019 to being an accessory after the fact and is slated to be sentenced on March 25. He's free on his own recognizance.

Prosecutors allege Harris Sr. conspired with Leal to kill Cheek in April 1998.

"A watch found near the scene where Cheek's body was found was connected to Harris Jr. through the results of DNA testing," according to a 2018 statement released by the District Attorney's Office. "It is believed that the watch was knocked off of Harris Jr.'s arm when the victim's body was left at the scene."

District Attorney Mike Hestrin announced on Oct. 15, 2018, that Leal and Harris Sr. had been charged in the crime. The announcement came less than two weeks after the release from prison of Horace Roberts, who had been serving his 19th year of a life sentence for the murder.

Roberts won his freedom based on a review of forensic evidence that exonerated the Temecula man, who was 60 years old at the time he left prison.

Hestrin credited attorneys at the San Diego-based California Innocence Project, which took on Roberts' appeal in 2004, with prompting the agency's Conviction Review Committee to take a comprehensive second look at the case.

"What happened to Horace Roberts is tragic," Hestrin said at the time. "We as prosecutors always strive to be vigilant and follow the truth. Once I learned of the new DNA findings, I immediately directed that all charges be dismissed."

The D.A. said the project's examination of DNA evidence not introduced during Roberts' trial proved pivotal in securing his release. The same evidence was used in the proceedings involving Harris Sr. and Leal.

According to prosecutors, Roberts and the victim worked together and had been intimately involved, although she was still married to Harris Sr.

After her strangled body was found in 2018, sheriff's investigators soon turned their attention to Roberts as a result of evidence gathered at the scene and interviews conducted in the days following her death.

Roberts' supporters had long alleged that Harris Sr. and Leal framed him for the murder.

A post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Harris Sr. and Leal is set for April 6. Both defendants are being held in lieu of $1 million bail — Harris at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning and Leal at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, according to jail records.

—City News Service contributed to this report.