Cimarron Bell: A Tale of Deception and Death

The Unraveling of Cimarron Bell

Cimarron Bernard Bell, born on April 7, 1974, in South Whittier, California, became a notorious name, marred by a sequence of chilling events that unfolded in 2003 and 2004. These events would eventually classify Bell as a serial killer, responsible for the deaths of four individuals, including his girlfriend and three unsuspecting men. Today, he resides on death row at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County, California, awaiting execution.

The Murders

In 2003, Bell, then a janitor at the Morgan Metals industrial park in La Habra, was entangled in a check-cashing scheme. Among his accomplices was his 22-year-old girlfriend, Ineka Edmondson. The plot began to unravel when one of their associates was apprehended, leading Bell to suspect Edmondson of betrayal. Convinced that she had turned them in to the authorities to monopolize access to their illicit bank accounts, Bell decided to eliminate her. On November 11, 2003, he lured Edmondson to his workplace under the guise of a meeting. After a seemingly affectionate greeting, he pulled out a gun and shot her three times in the head. Her body was discovered the next day, but no concrete evidence initially linked Bell to the murder.

Undeterred by the heinous act, Bell, alongside his 21-year-old accomplice, Briaell Michael Lee, concocted another scheme to amass wealth. This involved enticing potential buyers to Bell's residence in South Whittier with the promise of selling a modified Chevrolet Monte Carlo at a bargain price of $8,500. The first to fall into this trap was 23-year-old Mario Larios, accompanied by his 25-year-old cousin Fernando Pina, a Mexican national, and their 22-year-old friend Edgar Valles. On January 27, 2004, the trio arrived at Bell's house, where both Bell and Lee ruthlessly shot them to death. In an attempt to conceal the crime, Bell and Lee stuffed Larios and Valles into Larios's Mercedes-Benz, placing Pina's body in the trunk. They abandoned the vehicle in a La Mirada parking lot, where a passerby, drawn by a foul odor, stumbled upon the gruesome scene.

Investigation and Arrest

The discovery of the bodies triggered a police investigation, which retraced the victims' final movements. It was revealed that Larios and Valles, employees at the National Fence in Santa Fe Springs, were last seen leaving work on the morning of their murder. The breakthrough in the case came from another of Bell's girlfriends, arrested for credit card fraud. She informed the police that Bell had confessed to killing four people and had shown her the location where he murdered Edmondson.

With this information, authorities arrested Bell and Lee. Bell was held on a $1 million bail, while Lee was denied bail on murder charges. The District Attorney's Office announced their intention to seek the death penalty for both men, citing the aggravated nature of the crimes, including Bell's murder of Edmondson.

Trial and Sentencing

During the trial, both Bell and Lee pleaded not guilty to the charges. After months of proceedings, the jury found Bell guilty of all four murders. His defense attempted to secure a new trial, but the motion was denied. On April 19, 2011, Bell was sentenced to death, a verdict that provided some solace to the victims' families. Bell has since made numerous attempts to appeal his sentence, all of which have been unsuccessful, leaving him on death row.

As for Lee, he was convicted on a single count of second-degree murder and acquitted of the other charges, sparing him from the death penalty. He received a sentence of 40 years to life in prison. Despite his attorneys' efforts to overturn his conviction, citing procedural errors, the District Court of Appeal upheld his conviction in 2014.

Sources

• Whittier Daily News
• Daily Breeze
• San Gabriel Valley Tribune
• Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
• Los Angeles Times
• MyNewsLA.com
• The San Bernardino Sun

For further reading, visit the Wikipedia article on Cimarron Bell.