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Marine accused of killing gay Army reservist due in court

Attorney: “No time waiver,” case set for trial later this month

Kevin Albert Richard Coset, 23, is due in San Diego Superior Court next Tuesday, to confirm his trial date for later this month. Coset pleads not guilty to murder and denies the special circumstance of “lying in wait,” which could make him eligible for the death penalty.

Corporal Kevin Coset was a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, California, when he was arrested on suspicion of killing Army reservist Alvin Bulaoro, 24. The victim was last seen alive the night of December 21, 2012.

Sheriff’s investigators found Alvin Bulaoro’s body zipped in a sleeping bag in the back seat area of his own vehicle, parked at a local grocery store, on January 3, 2013.

At a preliminary hearing March 25, 2013, a pathologist testified that the victim suffered 44 stab wounds and two gunshots to the back of his head.

The murder case is proceeding forward quickly, and defense attorney Pal Lengyel-Leahu confirmed that his client had not waived right to a speedy trial, as of April 10, 2013.

Attorneys Shannon Dorval and Vince Imhoff, from the law firm Imhoff & Associates based out of Los Angeles, have joined Pal Lengyel-Leahu to form the defense team, according to Lengyel-Leahu.

At the March hearing, an investigator testified that he found a notebook labeled “personal journal of Kevin Coset” in a locked drawer underneath Coset’s bed, in his Camp Pendleton barracks. The first page was dated December 21, 2012, the witness said, and he read aloud the first handwritten page: “Tonight I had to kill for the third time. It was a guy named Alvin Bulaoro out in Fallbrook. It was definitely a him-or-me situation. I get no joy out of killing but I feel I must keep doing it to survive in my fight against the evil Musgrove Organization. They have been plotting against me for years now, as well as entering my mind and stealing my intelligence. They are responsible for getting me kicked out of school, as well as destroying my chance of me having a normal future. Murder is justice.”

Two weeks ago, on April 18, prosecution requested a handwriting “exemplar” from the accused man, according to his defense attorney.

Prosecution claims that the accused man met Alvin Bulaoro in the parking lot of an Albertson’s grocery store near the victim's home, the night of December 21 2012. Prosecutors claim to have video showing a man getting into Bulaoro’s vehicle, and then the car drove away. Witnesses testified that Kevin Coset’s credit card was used to rent a hotel room half-mile down the same street in Fallbrook, California, and a DNA expert said they found Alvin Bulaoro’s blood in that hotel room.

Surveillance video and use of cell phones and credit cards were used as evidence to suggest the movement and activity of both the victim Bulaoro and the accused man, Coset, in the timeframe around the killing.

Kevin Albert Richard Coset, 23, is due in department 5 of San Diego's North County Superior Courthouse at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7, 2013.

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Kevin Albert Richard Coset, 23, is due in San Diego Superior Court next Tuesday, to confirm his trial date for later this month. Coset pleads not guilty to murder and denies the special circumstance of “lying in wait,” which could make him eligible for the death penalty.

Corporal Kevin Coset was a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, California, when he was arrested on suspicion of killing Army reservist Alvin Bulaoro, 24. The victim was last seen alive the night of December 21, 2012.

Sheriff’s investigators found Alvin Bulaoro’s body zipped in a sleeping bag in the back seat area of his own vehicle, parked at a local grocery store, on January 3, 2013.

At a preliminary hearing March 25, 2013, a pathologist testified that the victim suffered 44 stab wounds and two gunshots to the back of his head.

The murder case is proceeding forward quickly, and defense attorney Pal Lengyel-Leahu confirmed that his client had not waived right to a speedy trial, as of April 10, 2013.

Attorneys Shannon Dorval and Vince Imhoff, from the law firm Imhoff & Associates based out of Los Angeles, have joined Pal Lengyel-Leahu to form the defense team, according to Lengyel-Leahu.

At the March hearing, an investigator testified that he found a notebook labeled “personal journal of Kevin Coset” in a locked drawer underneath Coset’s bed, in his Camp Pendleton barracks. The first page was dated December 21, 2012, the witness said, and he read aloud the first handwritten page: “Tonight I had to kill for the third time. It was a guy named Alvin Bulaoro out in Fallbrook. It was definitely a him-or-me situation. I get no joy out of killing but I feel I must keep doing it to survive in my fight against the evil Musgrove Organization. They have been plotting against me for years now, as well as entering my mind and stealing my intelligence. They are responsible for getting me kicked out of school, as well as destroying my chance of me having a normal future. Murder is justice.”

Two weeks ago, on April 18, prosecution requested a handwriting “exemplar” from the accused man, according to his defense attorney.

Prosecution claims that the accused man met Alvin Bulaoro in the parking lot of an Albertson’s grocery store near the victim's home, the night of December 21 2012. Prosecutors claim to have video showing a man getting into Bulaoro’s vehicle, and then the car drove away. Witnesses testified that Kevin Coset’s credit card was used to rent a hotel room half-mile down the same street in Fallbrook, California, and a DNA expert said they found Alvin Bulaoro’s blood in that hotel room.

Surveillance video and use of cell phones and credit cards were used as evidence to suggest the movement and activity of both the victim Bulaoro and the accused man, Coset, in the timeframe around the killing.

Kevin Albert Richard Coset, 23, is due in department 5 of San Diego's North County Superior Courthouse at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7, 2013.

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