Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Murder trial set to begin in case of the severed leg

By Jeff Kearns

A San Jose man who was arrested last year on suspicion of murder after he was linked to the discovery of a human leg in a Los Gatos dumpster has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Robert Tyler, 36, was formally charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Imelda May Pascua, 27, also of San Jose, at an arraignment hearing April 6. The trial is scheduled to begin May 26 in Superior Court.

Pascua was last seen alive on March 23, 1997. A 14-inch section of leg presumed to be Pascua's was found five days later in a dumpster behind a building on Knowles Drive by a man scavenging for computer parts. Clothing and other items belonging to Pascua were also found in the dumpster.

A DNA sample from the leg was tested by a laboratory in Maryland and found to be consistent with another sample provided by Pascua's mother.

The leg was found in a plastic bag that was subsequently taken to a Justice Department lab in Sacramento for testing. Tyler's fingerprints were found on the bag, a county crime lab employee said.

According to Deputy District Attorney Joyce Ferris-Metcalf, Los Gatos police and other agencies conducted an extensive countywide investigation, but no additional remains were found.

"It's rather difficult when you don't have an identification on the victim," she said, "but it's very helpful to law enforcement to have the new [DNA testing] available."

According to testimony from the director of the child support division of the D.A.'s office in the pretrial hearing, Pascua had requested child support from Tyler in late 1996, but he objected and requested a paternity test. Tyler's ex-wife also testified that he had threatened to kill her when she requested child support for their son.

Before her disappearance, Pascua gave a friend a copy of an answering machine message in which Tyler threatened her, according to police reports.

Tyler's San Jose attorney, Hector Ramon, refused to comment on the case.

If he's found guilty of first-degree murder, Tyler could be sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison.

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