DA: Triple-murder 'long time coming'

More than two years after the Rapoza family plunged off the Moss Beach cliff, Giannini painted a portrait of an 18-year relationship strained by finances, drugs and jealousy. Eddie Rapoza couldn't manage money, used marijuana and methamphetamine and couldn't adjust when his wife began succeeding at work and making new friends. The situation became darker, Giannini said, when the Foster City man became certain his wife's unborn daughter was fathered by another man.

Rapoza repeatedly threatened to harm himself if his wife left but she never thought he could hurt her or his family, he said - at least until the Sunday morning the family strapped their 4-year-old daughter in the back of the minivan and drove to the coast.

"She called my bluff so I called her bluff," Giannini claimed Rapoza told officers. "And with that the defendant killed a pregnant woman whose only failure was having too much faith in him and the little girl he was supposed to love and protect."

Rapoza, dressed in an olive suit, stared straight ahead during most of the opening statements but frequently wept as attorneys described his marriage and the way his family perished. Jurors appeared intent and a few raised their hands to their mouths during the more graphic descriptions of the crash and Rapoza's alleged premeditation.

Around 9 a.m., the vehicle sped down Bernal Avenue, off the cliff and 150 feet down to the water below. Raye Rapoza and her 32-week fetus died at the scene from blunt force trauma. Eddie and Tehani survived but the little girl suffered extreme brain injury and was removed from life support days later.

Witnesses to the crash testified Rapoza repeatedly apologized and said "I didn't know" as his family was extricated from the wreckage.

Rapoza not only purposely drove the vehicle off the cliff, but had even chosen the Moss Beach cliff as a good place to commit suicide prior to October, Giannini said.

Defense attorney Jeff Boyarsky agreed with much of Giannini's description of the Rapoza marriage — marked by separations and reconciliation, impulsive threats and bouts of insecurity — but balked at the notion its tragic end was intentional murder.

"On Oct. 6, 2002, Eddie did make a serious mistake ... He made a serious mistake of driving too fast on Bernal Road. He did it in a fit of anger but not with an intent to kill and not in such a way you'll be able to return a verdict of murder in this case," Boyarsky said.

Rather, he will argue, Rapoza's foot became stuck on the vehicle's pedals and, in a panic, was unable to free himself before the airbag deployed.

Boyarsky pointed out a number of reasons why it doesn't make sense that Rapoza would plan to kill his family: the Friday before, he accidentally struck a co-workers car and said he'd bring the insurance information the next Monday; Raye Rapoza herself told people about the family's plans to visit the coast; the couple were attending church and moving forward.

The defense wants jurors to see Rapoza as a slightly simple man from Maui working to adjust to a completely different life on the mainland. Rapoza, Boyarsky said, is prone to impulsive actions and can even act child-like.

In contrast, Giannini offered up several statements Rapoza allegedly made after the crash in which he blames the crash on his wife's affair, and his belief she was stealing his money.

"The b- was evil and she had to die," Rapoza reportedly told a paramedic three days after the crash during a trek between the county jail and San Mateo Medical Center.

The newly discovered testimony of the ambulance driver actually postponed opening statements one week after it came to light last Monday. Earlier defense requests to toss it as evidence were denied but Boyarsky tried mitigating its possible damage by telling jurors to think about why it is just now being introduced.

The defense will ask jurors to consider Rapoza's own extreme injuries from the crash and his medicated state during a hospital confession.

Outside the hearing, Rapoza's former employers expressed frustration with both the prosecution and defense. Neither Patty nor John Trayer, owners of Trayer Engineering, are called as witnesses in the case despite references by attorneys to Rapoza's job performance, his impulsive nature leading to quitting his job and reported statements he made on the job about his wife's fidelity.

Patty Trayer said she never heard Rapoza question his marriage aside from the typical marital spats. Her husband John said Rapoza told him many times he worried his wife was unfaithful and the baby was fathered by someone else. Both said without hesitation they would hire Rapoza back in a second once exonerated.

If convicted of three counts of first-degree murder, Rapoza faces life in prison without parole. District Attorney Jim Fox decided against seeking the death penalty.

Rapoza remains in custody on no-bail status. Today, the jury will travel to the Moss Beach cliff site and the prosecution will show them a life-size model of a vehicle similar to the one that crashed.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 104. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.