A 34-year-old Soledad man was convicted yesterday for the kidnapping and murder of a Monterey High School student in 1997.
Jacobo Ruelas, who faces life in prison without possibility of parole, was found guilty by a jury for killing 17-year-old Kristopher Olinger, who was kidnapped during a class assignment taking photos of the Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove, according to a statement from the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
Ruelas and his brother Angel carjacked, kidnapped, and robbed the teenager, who was stabbed 29 times and thrown off a cliff in Pacific Grove, the DA’s office says. Olinger managed to climb up the cliff, but died in a dirt turnout. Angel Ruelas pled guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping, and carjacking with gang and weapons enhancements on April 24, and was sentenced to life without parole.
It wasn’t until 2005 that investigators received information from a palm print database that linked prints on Olinger’s car, which had been found in San Jose, to the Ruelas brothers, the DA’s office says. Later investigation led to eye-witness accounts of the murder.
Jacobo Ruelas will be sentenced on Oct. 30.