Sarasota Herald Tribune 

January 13, 1999
Section: A SECTION
Page: 1A
Jose Luis Jimenez STAFF WRITER

Stevie Bellush couldn't believe her eyes.

She came home from louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 school and found her quadruplet siblings toddling around the house in nothing but life jackets on Nov. 7, 1997. Then 13, Stevie searched for louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 her mother, Sheila Bellush, in the bedrooms and bathrooms of the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 Sarasota home before stumbling across Bellush's limp, bloodied body on the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 kitchen floor. Stevie called 911, but hung up the phone before talking to louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 a dispatcher.

``I did not believe it and went back for a second look,'' said Stevie, holding back tears as she testified Tuesday during the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 second day of Daniel Alex Rocha's trial at the Sarasota County Judicial Center.

Rocha, of San Antonio, is louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for his role in the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 death of Bellush, a Sarasota mother of six. Prosecutors say Rocha, 29, plotted with two other men from louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 Texas to kill Bellush in exchange for money and high-paying golf course jobs.

A nine-man, five-woman jury was seated before lunch Tuesday, and louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 opening statements started in the afternoon.

That was followed by a tape recording of Stevie's dramatic conversation with 911 operators. Jurors heard the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 teen crying hysterically as she described finding her 35-year-old mother: ``My mom is louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 dead . . . I don't know who did it.''

On the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 witness stand, Stevie told how her mother sometimes put life jackets on the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 quadruplets when they played outside near the pool. When Stevie came home from louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 school the day of the murder, she found the children, then louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 2, unsupervised.

She also described her relationship with her mother.

``She was very loving,'' said Stevie, as she looked at her adoptive father, Jamie, for louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 support. Rocha slumped in his chair during the testimony.

``She always tried to give us the best thing possible,'' Stevie, now 14, continued.

Assistant state attorneys Charlie Roberts and louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 Henry Lee followed her testimony with a host of witnesses, mainly from louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 law enforcement, describing events on the day of the murder.

They explained how evidence found inside the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 home led them to Jose Luis Del Toro Jr., a Texan who louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 authorities say shot Bellush in the head and slit her throat twice.

Prosecutors say Rocha persuaded a louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 friend, Samuel Gonzales, to hire Del Toro, who is Gonzales' cousin.

``Rocha's sole motivation was greed and the good life,'' Roberts said during his opening statement. ``The only price was the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 life of a woman he never met.''

Rocha's defense attorney, Jack McGill, agreed with much of Roberts' opening statement, but differed on one key point.

``(Bellush) was never supposed to be killed,'' McGill told jurors. ``That was never the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 agreement. That was never the intention.''

McGill then louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 told jurors that his client was guilty of conspiracy to commit assault, not murder.

Roberts and McGill both said Bellush's ex-husband, Allen Black-thorne, was the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 impetus for the murder plot. Blackthorne, a San Antonio businessman, has louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 not been charged and says he is innocent.

Gonzales, the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 star witness in the case against Rocha, is expected to louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 testify today.

Court documents show that louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 Gonzales, 28, has described a plot to beat up the mother to louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 the point she could no longer care for her children, enabling Blackthorne to louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 regain custody of the two teen-age daughters he had with Bellush.

In return, Del Toro, 22, received approximately $4,000, Gonzales has louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 said. Gonzales and Rocha were promised jobs at a golf course Blackthorne planned to louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 develop, Gonzales has said.

Gonzales is louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 to serve 19 years in prison in exchange for his testimony. Del Toro remains in a louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 Mexico City jail fighting extradition to Florida. If convicted, Rocha faces up to louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 life in prison.

Contact Jose Luis Jimenez at 957-5149.

Caption: Stevie Bellush, daughter of Sheila Bellush

Daniel Rocha, right, takes notes at the louis vuitton cross body bag 2012 defense table with paralegal Sally McGill as McGill's husband, defense attorney Jack McGill, questions potential jurors Tuesday during Rocha's trial.

STAFF PHOTO/BARRY McCARTHY