‘I panicked, freaked out’: Accused killer says he beat East York mom with crowbar, but didn’t rape her

Warning: This story contains graphic content that some readers may find disturbing.

Yostin Murillo's voice became shaky as he described in detail how he repeatedly hit 41-year-old mother Rhoderie Estrada with a crowbar inside her East York bedroom three years ago.

Testifying before a downtown Toronto jury Tuesday, Murillo described how he and his co-accused David Beak had been drinking and doing drugs earlier that May night before they broke into Estrada's house on Torrens Avenue. There was no car in the driveway and the lights were off except for a basement window, so the pair figured no one was home and they could steal" some property, Murillo said.

He said he used a crowbar he had picked up from the garage to break through a door and get inside. In the living room, he found a laptop and two purses, which he stole. Upstairs, he found an iPhone beside one bed, which he took, noticing a child was fast asleep in the top bunk.

In the master bedroom, Murillo said he found a sleeping woman and another phone beside the bed. He testified he pocketed that too, then moved to grab a jar of change when he heard a voice say: Oh, no."

I panicked, freaked out," Murillo told the jury, saying that's when he picked up the crowbar and struck Estrada.

She was making a really bad noise," he said, describing striking her three or more" times again until she stopped screaming.

Murillo and Beak, both men in their 20s, are facing charges of first-degree murder and sexual assault in Estrada's death. They have pleaded not guilty.

Estrada, 41, was a nurse at St. Joseph's hospital. She was the mother of three daughters.

Earlier at Murillo and Beak's trial, her husband Gerald Aquintey testified at the horror of coming home late to find his wife seriously injured, bloody and covered in a blanket around 2 a.m. on May 26, 2018.

Estrada was pronounced dead soon after.

Estrada's daughters, who were home at the time of the killing, were her life," Aquintey said in emotional testimony.

In her opening statement last month, Crown prosecutor Beverley Richards said Estrada was brutally murdered and sexually assaulted by two complete strangers."

The Crown has said Murillo and Beak were arrested days after the homicide, and that Beak's DNA was found on Estrada's body.

When he was arrested on June 8, 2018, he told police in a formal statement that he tried to rape Estrada, Richards said last month.

In his testimony Tuesday, Murillo told the jury that after he hit Estrada with the crowbar he next told Beak what had happened and said they had to go. Murillo said he then left alone.

I didn't have the luxury to think and plan. It was impulse," he testified, describing throwing the crowbar in a garbage can as he left.

A few minutes later he said he started composing himself while chugging" some wine and going through the items he had stolen: two phones, a laptop and two purses containing makeup, some money and a nurse's ID, which he later threw away.

Murillo testified he went back to the house partly to make sure the crowbar was disposed of. He said he found Beak was still there, and asked him what he was doing.

Inside, Murillo said he noticed the woman was now naked, which is something he didn't remember from earlier. There was never a plan to sexually assault her, he told the jury.

Murillo admitted this wasn't the first time he had broken and entered homes trying to steal things. His background, which was read out in court, included several criminal convictions across Ontario.

He told the court he has had an addiction to drugs" and would binge on crystal meth - which he called Tina - cocaine, marijuana and a lot of alcohol. Breaking and entering was his way of supporting that habit, he said.

He said he was living at a homeless shelter at the time of Estrada's killing.

When told that the pathologist who examined Estrada's body concluded she was hit at least eight times, Murillo testified he couldn't tell you the number" as he was panicking.

Murillo was brought into court in handcuffs wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and black pants. Beak was also present.

Last month, a paramedic testified she arrived at the East York home to find Estrada's body in an unrecognizable shape. She told the jury that when she described the scene to a doctor over the phone, the doctor asked if Estrada's injuries were caused by a car accident.

The couple's daughters were in another room, physically unhurt.

The trial continues.

Gilbert Ngabo is a Toronto-based crime reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @dugilbo