Bloody clothes shown to jury in case of man who suffocated wife, two girls

After a day of already grueling testimony, jurors in the death penalty case of Alberto Sierra saw the stained clothing of Sierra’s estranged wife and her two young daughters, whom he suffocated with a plastic shopping bag.

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Miami-Dade Det. Juan Chaidez testified that his investigation into the murders of Gladys Machado, 29, and her daughters Julia Padron, 6, and Daniela Padron, 3, led him directly to Sierra, 42. During Chaidez’s testimony, prosecutor Abbe Rifkin showed the jurors several key pieces of evidence gathered in this case, including Machado’s torn up shirt and the girls’ stained clothing.

READ MORE: Jury in case of killer who suffocated wife, her girls hear about horrific scene

The fate of Sierra, 42, is in the hands of 12 jurors who are tasked with deciding whether Sierra should be condemned to Florida’s Death Row or sentenced to life in prison for the murders. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez is presiding.

The jury viewed dozens of gruesome photographs Wednesday that captured how Sierra left Machado, Julia and Daniela stuffed in a closet in the home they all once shared in Miami’s Flagami neighborhood. The bodies were found beside one another on Nov. 13, 2012, three days after they were killed.

On the stand, Chaidez said he quickly ruled out as suspects Machado’s ex-husband and father of her children, as well as her new love interest, who wasn’t in Florida at the time of the murders.

When the bodies were discovered, Sierra didn’t show up at the scene, Chaidez said, nor did he call detectives to ask about his wife or his stepchildren.

The detective said he requested phone records for Machado through her cell carrier, although her phone has never been located. The records, Chaidez said, showed Machado frequently used her phone — and that Sierra called Machado often.

But after the killings Sierra only called her once, on Nov. 11, Chaidez said.

The detective recalled that when he responded to the crime scene, he noticed it smelled like a mixture of bleach and early-stage decomposition. Standing before the jury, Rifkin put on blue latex gloves and cut open a brown paper evidence bag, pulling out a dirty bleach bottle.

The bottle was found in the garbage bins outside the home, Chaidez said. Rifkin also held up another piece of evidence found near the trash: a paper-plate craft that Machado’s son created of his family. On it, he identified Sierra as his father.

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Sierra closed his eyes when Rifkin brought the evidence bags up to his attorneys.

The prosecutor then showed the jury Daniela’s shirt, which the detective said was stained by brown decomposition fluid, and Julia’s clothing, including her underwear soaked in blood. Rifkin also open a bag containing Machado’s black bra and purple T-shirt, both of which were cut up by scissors.

Machado and her daughters were seen, alongside Sierra, in surveillance footage played from a check-cashing store on the day of the murders. The trio appear to be wearing the same clothing found at the crime scene days later.

Sierra had joined the family on a shopping outing to purchase a birthday gift for Daniela, who was days shy of turning 4. At some points in the footage, Sierra is seen carrying the toddler.

While processing the crime scene, investigators took DNA swabs of the bodies, Chaidez said. When they received the results, Sierra was a match to DNA found on Machado’s breast, on Julia’s hands, pants and underwear and on Daniela’s hands.

On Nov. 19, the day before Sierra was arrested, detectives also located Machado’s 2004 gold Nissan Altima parked in a guest spot at Kendall’s Calusa Club apartments, 8810 SW 132nd Ave., across the street from the home of Sierra’s mother. The car was backed into bushes to obscure the license plate, Chaidez said.

Inside the car, investigators found blood stains. Detectives later discovered that Sierra had attacked Machado with a knife in the car, cutting her hand and causing her to bleed profusely, because she had received a phone call from a new love interest.

When confronted with the mounting evidence against him, Sierra confessed, detailing how he snuffed the lives of Machado, Julia and Daniela with a plastic Sedano’s Supermarket bag — before having sex with the bodies of Machado and Julia.

Prosecutors plan to play Sierra’s 40-minute statement to Chaidez on Friday or next week. The detective will have to continue his testimony at a later date to make room on the witness stand for the doctor who performed the autopsies, who is only available to testify Friday morning.

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