A MAN accused of burying his boyfriend alive in wet cement is fighting to abandon his guilty admission.
Juan Tejedor Baron, who is from Colombia, allegedly sealed Gary Ruby in a bathtub at his luxurious .2 million home in Honolulu in March 2022. This reportedly happened after Baron discovered that his 73-year-old partner was HIV positive, as per legal records.
Baron, who was arrested on March 9, 2022, in Anaheim, California, hiding in a crawl space of a space heading to Mexico, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in early 2024 but is seeking to rescind his appeal.
The plea agreement’s terms stated that prosecutors agreed not to seek a life without parole or a minimum mandatory sentence of more than 20 years, read court documents.
Baron, 26, is now arguing he did not fully understand the conditions of the plea deal because he did not have a translator present to explain.
The suspect testified on Monday that his former attorney told him he would “die in prison,” which he interpreted as he would be sent to the electric chair.
Baron also argued that a weekly prescription he had been taking at the time impaired his judgment.
The proceeding, which began in October, will resume on December 23.
Prosecutors said Baron planned to take fraudulent ownership of his lover’s car and home when he committed the vile act.
Honolulu police excavated Gary Ruby’s decomposing body from a standalone soaking tub after receiving a concerning call from the victim’s brother on March 7, 2022, saying he had not heard from him for about three weeks.
When police first visited Ruby’s lavish home, they found Baron outside, who told police he bought the house from his lover five years ago.
However, property records showed Ruby purchased the estate in 2020.
‘ENRAGED LOVER’
Authorities also noticed Baron was driving a 2020 Audi A6, valued at $63,000, which records showed Ruby transferred ownership to the suspect a month before he was found entombed.
Investigators returned to the home on March 8, 2022, and found a bathtub in the master bathroom filled with cement and coffee grounds on top.
Baron covered the cement with coffee grounds to mask the smell, according to court documents.
The suspect was eventually arrested in Anaheim, California, attempting to flee the United States on board a Greyhound bus bound for Mexico, prosecutors said.
Baron allegedly told detectives he became enraged after Ruby told him he was HIV positive following a sexual encounter.
Moments after, Baron said he noticed Ruby choking on food, but instead of helping, he grabbed a belt, placed it around the victim’s neck, and strangled him, the affidavit states.
Baron then dragged his lover’s body to the bathroom, slit his wrists with a knife to mask the killing as a suicide.
The suspect then went into the garage and found two bags of concrete, but only enough to partially cover Ruby’s body.
Baron drove to Lowe’s for more bags of concrete to fully cover the remains, according to an affidavit.
Family and friends remembered Ruby, who was originally from Canada, as a “gentle, kind, sophisticated, and humble man,” ABC affiliate KITV previously reported.
Who was Gary Ruby?
Gary Ruby, 73, was found entombed in a concrete-filled bathtub of his $2.2 million Honolulu estate in March 2022.
- Gary Ruby was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, and graduated from McGill University in 1973 with a law degree.
- He retired after serving as a regulation analyst for the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs of the State of Hawaii, according to his obituary.
- Ruby purchased his estate in Honolulu in 2020.
- The $2.2 million home is part of the gated community known as Hawaii Loa Ridge.
- He was remembered by loved ones as a quiet and humble man passionate about theater, literature, and arts.
