Inset: Michael Rodriguez appears in court (Arizona’s Family). Background: The residential neighborhood near where Rodriguez’s father’s body was found in El Mirage, Ariz. (Google Maps).
An Arizona man has been jailed after police say he killed his father and concealed the body beneath a piece of wood in a carport.
Michael Rodriguez, 48, is accused of second-degree murder, abandonment or concealment of a dead body, and a probation violation in connection with the death of Salvador Ortiz Rivera Jr., whose age has not been released, according to the El Mirage Police Department.
Authorities say the incident happened earlier this week at a home on North Luna Street in El Mirage, a suburb about 25 miles northwest of Phoenix.
On Wednesday, a state trooper received a tip from a man he encountered at a QuikTrip gas station, who said Rivera’s body could be found at the residence, according to court documents obtained by Phoenix-based independent station KTVK and local CBS affiliate KPHO, which operate together as Arizona’s Family.
The tipster told police Rodriguez had instructed him to go to Rivera’s home and take whatever he wanted. But when the man arrived and began looking over the property, he discovered Rivera was dead and decided not to take anything, authorities said.
The tipster’s role did not end there.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Rodriguez allegedly went to the tipster’s home with another man, and the three then traveled to Rivera’s residence, police said. According to the charging documents, the purpose of the trip was to retrieve the dead man’s wallet because he had $5,000 in the bank.
The tipster, however, said he could not bring himself to take the dead man’s wallet, so he told the defendant the wallet was gone, police said. Then, after thinking over what had happened, the tipster went to the QuikTrip to call law enforcement when he ran into the state trooper.
When authorities arrived at Rivera’s home, they found his decomposing body hidden underneath a plywood cover in a concrete-lined vehicle repair pit in a “carport-type structure,” police said.
The victim had a plastic bag on his head and marks indicating he had been strangled, according to law enforcement.
The tipster went on to tell investigators he last saw the deceased man alive on either Saturday or Sunday, police said.
Law enforcement then made its way to Rodriguez’s residence, located just a few blocks away. When questioned, the man allegedly admitted to having “beef” and other issues with his father.
“He responded that he was not like his dad; he stated that he was good and that his dad put him in prison for not minding his business at the compound,” an officer wrote in the charging document. “He told me that he had spent six years in prison.”
The defendant then said his father drank all the time and that “we got into it,” before adding that he “lost it” after Rivera called him “crazy,” according to law enforcement. Rodriguez allegedly said he blacked out during the subsequent fight and woke to find his father dead.
“I need somehow to get rid of the body,” was his first thought upon making the grim discovery, the defendant allegedly said.
As questioning continued, Rodriguez said he hit Rivera in the head with a bar and then got rid of the weapon as well as the shoes he was wearing during the incident, police said.
The defendant is being detained in the Maricopa County Jail on $2 million bond.
During his arraignment, Rodriguez spoke at length to tell the court he had no regrets about what transpired, seemingly accusing his father of having gang affiliations.
“You know who my dad is?” he asked. “La Familia. That’s who he is. That’s who he was. A bad dude. A bad man. I had to stop him.”
