Adrian Gonzalez reenacts crime, describes actions as self-interested as cross-examination concludes

Prosecutor and Chief Deputy District Attorney Tara George brought a number of props to a Santa Cruz courtroom, including a trash can, garbage bags and a doll to have Adrian Gonzalez reenact the rape and murder of 8-year-old Madyson Middleton as her multi-day cross-examination came to a close Wednesday.

Gonzalez, who has been on the stand for nearly a week in the trial to determine if he can be released after aging out of the juvenile justice system, answered all questions from both George and his own attorney, Charlie Stevens, calmly and clearly, but appeared to have a much more difficult time talking in depth about the crime and demonstrating his actions.

“I’m thinking about everything Madyson was feeling at that moment,” he said, as he hesitated to stuff the doll into the trash bin as he did when he committed the crime.

On Tuesday, George continued questioning that began Monday, trying to show that Gonzalez’s 2015 crime was well-planned. She asked Gonzalez when he decided to rape Middleton, to which he said shortly after his mother dropped off groceries, including the ice cream he used to convince the 8-year-old to come to his apartment in the Tannery Arts Center complex. He said that he – a 15-year-old at the time – knew that Middleton would not agree to have sex with him, but added that he did not consider that an 8-year-old could not consent. Gonzalez, now 25, said that as soon as she began to serve herself ice cream, he duct-taped her mouth shut.

“I knew that it would help with the screaming,” he said. “I had a general idea that that is how she would react.” Gonzalez said that while “a part of me” knew that Middleton was scared and sad, he was “thinking more of myself at that point.”

Gonzalez said that he was not specifically attracted to Middleton, and that he did not choose to assault her because she was a child, but he simply just wanted to have sex with a person.

“She was a person that I was able to abuse my trust with and overpower,” he said, “so it would have been easier to have sex with her.”

When George asked him why he decided to kill Middleton, he said that the decision was “very reactive” and done without much thought.

“I was making decisions based on what I thought would help me achieve what I wanted,” he said. “I’m thinking about not wanting to get caught and to hide what I had just done, so my first thought was to kill her.”

George, however, pointed out reasons to believe that Gonzalez’s crime was better planned than he said, and that the steps he took to hide evidence show that he was not as panicked as he said, either. 

George pointed out that when Gonzalez went to dispose of Middleton’s body in the Tannery’s dumpster area, he avoided the elevator to stay away from cameras. She showed a surveillance video of him looking up at the camera as he made his way to the garbage area and moving out of the camera’s line of sight. Gonzalez alleged that he did not think about the camera catching him in the act at that time.

George also noted that Gonzalez hid Middleton’s scooter and helmet in his closet, and carefully cleaned the knife he used to stab her with hydrogen peroxide. And just 11 minutes after committing the crime, he casually texted friends and went to his friend Hugh’s apartment with a birthday gift. The two then walked to a nearby Chipotle.

“I did have the thought of what I had done to Madyson in the back of my mind, and I was actively trying not to think about it,” he said. Gonzalez admitted that he lied to police officers about having not seen Middleton and also that he had texted his friends and his mother about how Middleton was missing, and that he hoped she was OK. He agreed with George that he was being deceitful with investigators and others close to him.

“I was mostly thinking about how to not get caught, and to just go along with what was going on,” he said, also agreeing that he continued to lie to police even following his arrest. “After taking some time to really look at what I had done, yes, it was deceitful.”

Gonzalez said he has not received therapy specifically tailored to his crime, but he believes that he has done enough work to address the violent aspects of the rape and murder.

George rounded out her multiday cross-examination with perhaps the most burning question: “Why did you do it?”

“I made these decisions because I wanted to have sex with a person and because I was feeling suicidal, I didn’t care about myself or other people,” Gonzalez replied.

“Did you try to commit suicide after what you did?” George asked.

“No,” said Gonzalez.

In Stevens’ redirect, he revisited the grisly details from the day of the crime. He asked Gonzalez why he chose Middleton, and he gave the same answer that he gave George: She was someone who trusted him and whom he could overpower. Gonzalez said that it is difficult to talk about the crime in such detail.

“Especially in recent years, as I learn more about how it affected Laura [Jordan, Middleton’s mother], the entire community, and try to connect myself to my actions and their consequences,” he said.

Stevens asked Gonzalez if he enjoyed duct-taping Middleton’s mouth, restraining her from fighting back and choking her, to which Gonzalez said he did not. He explained that at the time, he did it to make it easier for him to have sex with her, but looking back is much different.

“I feel terrible knowing that because of my actions, she’s no longer with us,” he said.

Gonzalez also said that reenacting the crime made him feel ashamed and vulnerable.

“I’ve talked about my crime to group [therapy] members and to different clinicians, but it was a really scary thing showing other people the actions that I committed that day,” he said. “Scary for the judgment, and scary for showing the terrible decisions I made.”

Stevens will continue his redirect examination on Monday.

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.