Sacramento man pleads no contest to Oakland high-rise murder and body disposal

OAKLAND – One of the two defendants in the killing of a local janitor has already pleaded no contest, while the other is now set to go on trial.

In an August court hearing, 38-year-old Nai Saechao pleaded no contest to second-degree murder of Julio Chavez-Montoya, whose skeleton was found wrapped around a tree in the Oakland Hills months after he was killed in the downtown high-rise where he lived and worked. Saechao's co-defendant, Matias Simi, faced a preliminary hearing in April and remains in custody, court records show.

Saechao's sentencing is tentatively set for November, records show. Much of the charges against Simi are based on Saechao's statement to Oakland police, according to testimony at Simi's hearing.

Chavez-Montoya was a maintenance technician at a high-rise in the 400 block of 14th Street in downtown Oakland, not far from the Tribune Tower. Simi used to be a security guard at the same building, but the two clashed and Simi was fired weeks before Chavez-Montoya's death for allegedly smuggling Saechao into the building and stealing a master key ring.

Chavez-Montoya disappeared in late January. Security cameras in the building captured Saechao and Simi leaving the area pushing a large trash can on wheels. Saechao later gave a police interview and admitted that Chavez-Montoya's body was in the can and that they had loaded it into Simi's car.

During a police interview in March 2023, Saechao admitted that he and Simi had entered the high-rise illegally and that Chavez-Montoya confronted them, Oakland police Sergeant Wenceslao Garcia testified at Simi's preliminary hearing. He also told them the location of Chavez-Montoya's body, but search teams initially couldn't find it, Garcia said.

“Simi hit him once, Julio went down and Simi started hitting him four to five more times while he was on the ground,” Garcia said on the witness stand. “(Saechao) said something like, 'I didn't think he was dead.'”

Simi's ex-wife, who was arrested on charges of aiding and abetting murder, also told police that Simi confessed to her that he got into a fight with a man and “had to knock him to the ground and then he killed him,” Garcia testified.

Chavez-Montoya's skeleton was eventually discovered in a ravine near a creek bed off Elysian Fields Drive and Golf Links Road. Authorities said it appeared someone had pushed his body down a hill in the remote area. After confirming his identity, prosecutors charged Simi and Saechao with murder.

Before Chavez-Montoya's skeleton was discovered, authorities said, friends and family members received calls demanding a ransom for his safe return. One caller said they would “cut him to pieces” if the $8,000 was not received. The calls were allegedly made from Chavez-Montoya's cellphone, which bounced off a cell tower near Simi's home in San Leandro, authorities said.

Originally published: August 16, 2024 at 10:02 am