Jacobo Ruelas Conviction Stands

As it should be.
Kris Olinger Bench 2013

The Sixth District Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of Jacobo Ruelas in the 1997 murder of 17-year-old Kristopher Olinger, according to Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo.

Ruelas was convicted in October 2013 of first-degree murder with special circumstances, kidnapping for robbery and kidnapping for carjacking in the death of the Monterey High School senior, who was stabbed and left to die near the Pacific Grove Recreation Trail.

Ruelas was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

The case went unsolved for nearly a decade before state investigators matched palm prints on Olinger’s car in 2005 to Ruelas and his brother Angel.

Angel Ruelas was also charged in connection with the crime, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life without possibility of parole.

Jacobo Ruelas Conviction Stands