MURRIETA — One of three conspirators in a marijuana theft ring involved in killing an Anza man because he was believed to be a snitch was bound for state prison Monday to serve a term of life without the possibility of parole.
George Frank Holley Jr., 43, of Oklahoma City was convicted in June with Nico Manuel Zahir, 31, of Anza for the slaying of 42-year-old Brian Messina in 2020.
Separate juries heard their cases at the Southwest Justice Center over a nearly monthlong period.
Holley’s jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, firearm assault and a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a kidnapping. Zahir’s jury convicted him of the murder count, along with firearm assault, false imprisonment and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
On Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer imposed the life without parole sentence on Holley during a hearing at the Murrieta courthouse.
Zahir was sentenced in August to 25 years to life in prison.
The pair’s co-defendant, 41-year-old Joe Anthony Serna of Anza, pleaded guilty last year to assault resulting in great bodily injury, gun assault and making criminal threats. He was sentenced in June to 10 years, eight months behind bars.
Sheriff’s investigators said the men suspected Messina was secretly gathering evidence against them in connection with multiple armed thefts at illegal cannabis grows in the Azna Valley.
Holley was the first to make the allegation against his former friend, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by sheriff’s Detective Lance Stoyer. He wrote that Holley had witnessed Messina using his mobile phone to record conversations the men had concerning the thefts.
“Holley privately spoke to Serna about the recordings and planned to search Messina’s cellular phone without Messina’s knowledge or consent,” according to the affidavit.
The men were ultimately able to access the phone, and while scanning data, “Serna saw a social message that Messina had sent (stating) that if he — Messina — were to go missing or found dead, Serna would be responsible for the murder,” Stoyer said.
The three conspirators became convinced Messina was a liability, prompting a confrontation at a residence in the 39600 block of Howard Road in Anza on the night of Nov. 29, 2020, according to court papers.
In a later interview, Holley told detectives that a verbal altercation erupted, and Serna and Zahir attacked the victim, with Zahir pistol-whipping him and Serna kicking him multiple times.
The defendants beat Messina into submission, then forced him into a Toyota Tundra pickup and drove to a remote area along Bautista Road, where they all got out.
At Holley’s direction, Zahir used a shotgun to execute the victim on the side of the road, investigators said.
None of the men had documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
