Laken Riley murder suspect seen with multiple scratches day after killing: Officers

Police questioned the man accused of killing Laken Riley about multiple scratches on his arms a day after the 22-year-old nursing student was found murdered on the University of Georgia's campus, body camera footage played Monday during the suspect's bench trial showed.

Police spoke to the defendant, Jose Ibarra, who is an undocumented migrant, at his apartment in Athens on Feb. 23, while investigating Riley's death. The Augusta University student was found beaten in a wooded area on the Athens campus on Feb. 22 after she didn't return from a run, authorities said. Her brutal death became a rallying cry for immigration reform from many conservatives, including President-elect Donald Trump.

Special prosecutor Sheila Ross said last week that Ibarra was "hunting" for women on the campus and encountered Riley while she was on her run. Ross said the evidence shows an extended struggle ensued and Riley "fought for her life" before dying due to blunt force trauma and asphyxiation. Ibarra's DNA was found under Riley's fingernails, according to Ross.

Officers questioned Ibarra in connection with the murder after a suspicious jacket was found in a dumpster near his apartment, Ross said. Ring camera footage captured a man discarding the jacket, which had Riley's hair on it, in the dumpster at 9:44 a.m. on Feb. 22, about 16 minutes after she died, Ross said.

University of Georgia Police Sgt. Joshua Epps testified Monday that he noticed a scratch on Ibarra's right bicep while questioning him at his apartment.

"On his left arm, he had a forearm scratch that was very similar, which in my mind, looked like fingernail scratches to me," Epps said.

Epps said he also observed a fresh "puncture" on Ibarra's left wrist.

Prosecutors entered into evidence on Monday photos of Ibarra's scratches on his arms and bruising on his palm.

Body camera footage of the officers' questioning Ibarra was also played in court.

When asked about what happened to his right bicep, Ibarra told officers that he had a scratch but "didn't exactly explain from where or how," University of Georgia officer Rafael Sayan, who was called to translate during the questioning, testified on Monday.

When asked what happened to his left wrist, Ibarra first said he didn't have anything there, then said, "It's just a scratch," according to Sayan.

When asked why his knuckle was red, Ibarra said it was because of the cold, Sayan said.

Jail call between wife played in court

Ibarra was detained following the questioning, Epps said. He was arrested that day on murder charges in connection with Riley's death.

During testimony on Monday, one of Ibarra's roommates identified Ibarra as the man discarding the jacket in the dumpster, based on his cap and loafers.

The court on Monday also heard a jail call between Ibarra, who has remained in custody since his arrest, and his wife, during which she confronted him about the incident, though the extent of what Ibarra had told her previously is not clear.

His wife repeatedly asked him "what happened with the girl," according to FBI analyst Abeisis Ramirez, who listened to hundreds of Ibarra's jail calls and translated this particular call while testifying on Monday.

"She tells him that he has to know something," Ramirez said.

His wife said she couldn't understand why his DNA was on the girl and no one else's, Ramirez said. She also told him she couldn't understand how someone could see someone dying and not call 911, Ramirez said.

She also told him, "You're not gonna come here and lie to me, I know you, you know something," Ramirez said.

Jose would not comment on her questions or accusations other than saying, "Enough," or "OK, OK, OK," according to Ramirez.

Peeping tom incident addressed

Ibarra, 26, has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including malice murder and felony murder.

Police have said they believe Ibarra -- a migrant from Venezuela who officials said illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 -- did not know Riley and that this was a "crime of opportunity."

Additional charges in the 10-count indictment include aggravated battery, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, obstructing or hindering a person making an emergency telephone call and tampering with evidence. The latter charge alleged that he "knowingly concealed" evidence -- including the jacket found in the dumpster -- involving the offense of malice murder.

Ibarra was also charged with a peeping tom offense. The indictment alleges that on the same day as Riley's murder, he spied through the window of a different person who lived in an apartment on campus. The judge last month denied a motion seeking to sever that charge from the case.

Ross said during her opening statement last week that on the morning of Riley's murder, Ibarra was seen on video going to a female student's apartment multiple times. The student called 911 at 7:57 a.m. to report that someone was trying to open the door to her apartment, Ross said.

The UGA grad student, Tejaswi Saraswathi, testified Monday that she heard someone trying to open the door to her ground-floor apartment while she was taking a shower. When she looked out the door, she saw someone "duck." The person's face was obstructed by a cap, she said.

She said she went to get her phone to call 911, then saw the person looking through her living room window.

The person had on a black hat, black jacket and black gloves, Saraswathi said.

Ross last week said the evidence shows that the person at the apartment was wearing clothes similar to ones Ibarra had on in a Snapchat selfie posted earlier that morning, including a black Adidas cap. Trail camera footage placed a similarly dressed person an hour after that incident near the path where Riley went running, she said.

Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial. The case is being presented in the Athens-Clarke County courtroom to Judge H. Patrick Haggard, who will render a verdict.