Two eye-witnesses not available to testify in Fellsmere murder case

By Elliott Jones (Contact)
Originally published 12:42 p.m., October 15, 2007
Updated 12:42 p.m., October 15, 2007


Two eye-witnesses weren’t available to testify against an illegal immigrant charged with first degree murder in Fellsmere, a state prosecutor said Monday.

One disappeared. And one refused to return to the United States from Mexico, or even testify via a satellite link-up.

So in September, the State Attorney’s Office accepted defendant Hernan Cortes’ plea of no contest plea to manslaughter with a weapon, a knife. On Sept. 27, Indian River Circuit Court Judge Robert Pegg sentenced the 33-year-old Mexican native to five years in prison.

“The case came down to circumstantial evidence,â€