Two brothers are standing trial side-by-side five years after police say they brutally beat a man to death in Hialeah Gardens.
Zadiel Rivero and Zandy de la Osa are facing second-degree murder charges in connection to the killing of 31-year-old Frank Canet, a man the brothers did business with. Prosecutors said Rivero called Canet that February 2019 night to inspect a trailer, but instead ambushed him.
“You are going to see Zandy take that pipe and pin it against the victim's neck so his brother can get behind him and viciously stab him in the heart,” Assistant State Attorney Kevin Betancourt said in court Tuesday, while describing the case to jurors during opening statements.
Surveillance video shown to jurors captured Rivero stabbing Canet countless times. At one point, de la Osa randomly runs in with a metal pipe and holds the victim down for his brother, according to police.
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“He was holding him down on the floor with his foot and with the pipe,” said Dilaxy Madruga as she explained how the brothers beat and stabbed her boyfriend in front of her.
Madruga called 911 screaming for help, but at one point, Rivero allegedly took her phone away from her.
Canet and his girlfriend managed to escape, but the man died due to his injuries.
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Defense attorneys do not deny the murder but claim the brothers acted in self-defense.
“Frank was high as a kite,” said Jonathan Jordan, the attorney representing Rivero. “Frank had a meth problem.”
Jordan said the victim tested positive for meth during his toxicology test. According to Jordan, the victim showed up uninvited and was threatening Rivero by stating he was “going to rape (Rivero’s) wife and daughter. ”
Bruce Lehr, an attorney representing de la Osa, said his client never touched any knives, only the pipe. He added that de la Osa only came over to help separate Rivero and Canet.
“He had to stop this lunatic, drugged-out Superman from killing his brother,” Lehr said.
On the other hand, Rivero is also charged for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old female, in an unrelated 2019 case.
Records show Rivero and his wife Yaisel Faya-Guinea sexually assaulted the teen in their home and then recorded the event with their home surveillance cameras.
Faya-Guinea pleaded guilty in 2022 and was sentenced to four years probation, according to records.
Rivero has pleaded not guilty in the assault case.
The murder trial is expected to continue Wednesday.
