He’s accused of gunning down his Pasco neighbor. He says he didn’t do it

Opening statements began Thursday in the murder trial of a Pasco man accused in the execution-style killing of a neighbor.

Victor A. Paniagua is charged with six counts, including first-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of unlawfully possessing a gun and two counts of witness tampering.

The charges stem from a June 3 shooting at 502 S. 22nd Avenue, when Paniagua allegedly cornered Abel Yanez Contreras, 47, in a bedroom and shot him point-blank in the chest.

The bullet went through him and into a wall.

Contreras and Paniagua apparently lived a six houses away from each other, police said.

Franklin County Deputy Prosecutor Albert Lin told jurors that two people saw Paniagua, 27, shoot Contreras.

As people realized what was going on, Paniagua turned the gun on Efren Bueno-Gonzalez, one of the people in the room, and threatened to kill him too, Lin said.

Paniagua then left and went to his home, where he met with his girlfriend, Lin said.

He got a ride to the Tahitian Inn, where he took at shower, apparently to clean away the blood, Lin said. That was the room police found him in after the shooting.

“He ran from one location to the next,” he told jurors. “You have to look at his actions. That’s what this case is about.”

When police searched his house, Lin said, they found pistol rounds matching the ones used in Contreras’ death.

Both Paniagua and his girlfriend were seen on security footage going into the motel wearing black backpacks, one of which carried the murder weapon, Lin said.

Investigators have not said what led to the shooting.

Witnesses at the scene gave conflicting descriptions of the argument that happened before the shooting

Paniagua and Contreras have criminal records; police say Paniagua is a documented gang member.

Defense attorney Karla Kane Hudson said the case against her client is filled with mismatched stories and a scene where everyone ran.

“I ask you to remember is Mr. Paniagua is presumed innocent,” she said. “He was in the wrong place with the wrong people at the wrong time.”

Just as important, Kane Hudson argued that the stories between the witnesses won’t match.

“You have to ask yourself why these stories are different. Are they protecting the actual shooter?” she said.

She pointed out while investigators found what appeared to be the murder weapon with Paniagua’s DNA on it, there was also DNA from two other unidentified people found on the magazine and cartridges.

Washington State Patrol crime scene investigators are expected to testify that they can’t prove for certain the 9 mm bullet found in the wall came from the same gun, Kane Hudson said.

This story was originally published September 27, 2018 at 12:53 PM.