Trial reset for polo player accused of murder - By DIANE HENSLEY
The jury trial expected to begin Mon. Nov. 28 for an Indio man facing murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting of a Thermal resident last year, has been postponed until February.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Charles E. Stafford on Monday set the trial date for Steven Thomas Flores for 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2006. Flores remains in custody at Riverside County Jail.
Flores, 50, a skilled horseman and internationally known polo player once rated at six goals by the United States Polo Association, is accused of murder in the shooting death of a 25-year-old Thermal man, whose identity has not been released.
Authorities arrested Flores the evening of Nov. 18 after witnesses at the Kennedy’s Market on Monroe St. reported seeing a man identified as Flores shoot another man after an altercation early that morning. Flores allegedly loaded a bleeding body into a Ford pickup truck, then drove off, according to Sgt. Frank Taylor of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Central Homicide Unit.
The body of a Hispanic man believed to be the victim was found by authorities on a strip of desert near 30th Ave. and Monte Vista Way in Thousand Palms later that evening, police said. Soon afterward, a white Ford truck allegedly driven by Flores was found south of Jackson St. and Ave. 62.
In recent years, Flores had dropped out of competition, allegedly turned to drugs and encountered marriage and financial problems, said former acquaintances who declined to be identified. One Eldorado Polo Club member called him “an amazing horseman,” and a true talent.
The murder charge carries an accompanying weapons enhancement. If convicted, Flores could serve 60 years to life in prison, police said. Bail remains set at $1 million.
Diane Hensley may be contacted at dkheditor@msn.com.
