Final chapter in one murder tying together 4 deaths

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The murder tying together two families and three different homicide investigations has reached its final chapter.

Michelle Jimenez was beaten to death by her boyfriend in September 2012. Her body was the third sheriff's deputies found at the same location within a month. When she was killed, her father was in jail on murder charges. Now, he's a free man and had some choice words for his daughter's killer.

Among family members and friends, Michelle Jimenez was known for her smile. Gabriel Rosiles was known for wiping it off her face.

"When we were informed that Michelle had been beaten to death, we knew at that moment in our hearts that you had committed this brutal crime," Michelle's friend Stephanie Gaona said to Rosiles Monday.

Sheriff's deputies found Michelle dead in the bathroom of her home. 61 injuries crisscrossed her head, her body and her legs. Rosiles had a long history of violence toward women, but he denied killing his girlfriend. His defense attorney tried to blame someone connected to another homicide.

Michelle's father and two brothers were in jail at the time, charged with two murders in a double shooting at the same home a month earlier. Unlike Rosiles, they owned up to their crimes, and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Michelle's father's release came just in time to face her killer.

"And you know, it took me a lot to come up here, Gabriel," Jose Alfredo Jimenez said Tuesday. "But you are a coward."

Rosiles claimed he found Michelle dead, called his mom, then ran away when his brothers got there and called 911. A jury decided he was lying and convicted him of murder. He'll have at least 37 years on a life sentence to remember a smile, and to seek mercy.

"You need to ask God to forgive you," said Jose Alfredo Jimenez. "I ask him every day."

One of the brothers who testified in Rosiles' defense at trial has since been murdered. Samuel Rosiles was Fresno's first homicide victim of 2015, but police say they don't think it's in any way connected to these other homicides.