A man found guilty in a triple murder case in which the victims were tied up and shot

A Summit County jury found a man guilty of three brutal murders that shocked residents of two communities.

Elias Gudino faces 18 charges, including aggravated murder, attempted murder and kidnapping.

A jury deliberating a triple murder case in which the victims were tied up and shot

Gudino was found guilty of the following charges:

• Six counts of aggravated murder with gun specifications
• Three counts of murder with gun specifications
• Two counts of attempted murder with particular cruelty
• Attempted murder with a gun
• Four cases of kidnapping with weapons specifications
• Possession of weapons for people with disabilities
• Tampering with evidence

“Elias Gudino took the lives of three men. “I thank the jurors, prosecutors and law enforcement for working to bring justice to the victims and their families and holding Elias Gudino accountable for his vile actions,” said U.S. Attorney Elliot Kolkovich.
Gudino will be sentenced on December 18.

Shooting and trial

The Honduran victims were found bound, gagged and shot in March 2023.

The bodies of Inmer Reyes and Victor Varela-Rodriguez were found on Cordova Avenue in Akron. About an hour later, Domingo Castillo-Reyes’ body was discovered just off Wright Road in Copley.

Prosecutors said Gudino and another unknown masked man kidnapped four men from a Youngstown home and then drove the victims to Summit County.

All of the victims were shot in the head, but one of the men, Oscar-Meija Gomez, was grazed and survived. He testified against Gudino and identified him as the gunman.

A kidnapping victim who survived a shooting testifies in a triple murder trial

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During closing arguments, defense attorney John Greven said it was not Gudino who killed the men. Greven defends himself in the affirmative, claiming that Gudino was under duress during the kidnapping plan carried out by an individual from a Mexican drug cartel.

“Someone wanted to make sure these bodies were found and someone wanted to send a message, and the person who wanted to send a message was not Elias Gudino. The one who wanted to send a message was the Mexican drug cartel,” Greven said.

Prosecutors said Gudino had ties to a Mexican drug cartel and spent time in prison for cocaine trafficking.

However, Summit County Assistant Prosecutor Zachary Neumann told the jury that the cartel was not behind the triple murder.

Instead, Neumann said Gudino committed the murders because he was angry that his wife had left him for another man, and then allegedly targeted that man’s friends.

Neumann also stressed the importance of the surviving victim’s testimony.

“He talked about how all his friends were murdered and how this man (Gudino) put a gun to his head and shot him,” Neumann said. “This is not a cartel killing. He’s a jealous husband.”

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