SAN BERNARDINO, CA- A California woman used a frying pan to knock her ex-boyfriend unconscious, then slitting his throat before finally burying his remains in a “makeshift tomb” in her backyard, Law & Crime reports.
Trista Ann Spicer, 46, was found guilty by a San Bernardino County jury on one count of second-degree murder, with a sentencing enhancement for using a deadly weapon, in connection with the brutal killing of Eric Mercado, 42, in 2014. His body was not discovered on Spicer’s property until 2022.
Spicer testified that she was acting in self-defense when she killed Mercado.
Law & Crime had previously reported that on Aug. 23, 2022, San Bernardino Police Department Homicide Unit detectives conducted a “follow-up interview” with Spicer after receiving a tip about a body possibly being buried in her yard. Investigators corroborated information from a tipster and secured and executed a search warrant for the property.
The tip was provided by Waylan Gentry, who was dating Spicer in 2022, who told authorities that Spicer moved Mercado’s body from its original location under concrete steps after she found out her family was planning on selling the home. He previously testified that Spicer spoke of moving to Illinois, where she had family; however, she said the had an “important” matter to take care of before she could leave. She asked Gentry for help.
The San Bernardino Sun reported that the “matter” was to “get rid of” her boyfriend.
“I didn’t know what she meant,” Gentry said. “She said he was buried under the stairs. I did not believe her.”
After conferring with his mother, Gentry decided to contact the police after she told him to “do the right thing.” Upon searching the property, police found a hidden storage compartment that was approximately 8 feet wide, 6 feet high, and 3 feet deep.
Mercado’s corpse was found inside the compartment wrapped inside a sliced air mattress. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on him told authorities his nose and eye socket were “obliterated” and would have killed him “within seconds.”
“During the service of the search warrant, investigators observed what appeared to be a makeshift tomb on the property. Investigators entered the makeshift tomb and located human remains inside,” a news release said. “Homicide investigators identified pertinent information and learned that Trista Spicer and the decedent, Eric Mercado, lived at the residence together. Investigators learned that Mercado had been reported missing by his family in 2014 and had not been seen since.”
Spicer testified that she met Mercado in 2014, and that he had convinced her to start using methamphetamine again after she had been clean for six years, the East Bay Times reported.
According to Spicer, Mercado soon began inflicting physical and emotional abuse upon her, however since Mercado was prone to “fits of violence,” she was fearful of reporting the abuse, Law & Crime reported.
She further testified that in October 2014, Mercado became angry while they were eating dinner and threw it at her. She claimed she was sitting naked on the couch after he had allegedly ordered her to do so. She said Mercado stabbed her in the neck before demanding she get him coffee in the kitchen. She said that while in the kitchen, she grabbed a frying pan and struck Mercado in the head using both hands. She then cut his throat.
During the trial, Carlos Trevino, a friend of Mercado’s, testified on behalf of the defense, saying that Mercado was easily riled.
“It didn’t take much to piss him off,” Trevino testified, according to the San Bernardino Sun. Trevino was a reluctant witness who testified along with two other friends of Mercado’s, all of whom said that Mercado was a violent person. Trevino said he once saw Mercado shoot a man in the kneecap and then rob him. His testimony was used as a basis to support Spicer’s contention that she killed him in self-defense.
Another associate of Mercado, Oscar Diaz, testified that he previously told authorities that Mercado was violent and frequently beat people up, however, he hedged and said that he “may have been” lying.
Trevino, however, painted a much different picture of Mercado.
“He went from being a nice guy to being deadly violent,” although he said he didn’t personally know of anyone Mercado had killed.
“People were afraid. They’d shake. Pee on themselves. You got a gun in your face, you’d be scared,” Trevino said of Mercado.
The defense attorney confronted Trevino with Mercado’s rap sheet, which included arrests for carjacking, vehicle theft, receiving stolen property, drug possession, and concealing a dirk or dagger, along with many other convictions.
Another defense witness, Valerie Rendon, said that she was friends with Mercado and Spicer and had smoked meth with them. She said Mercado had slapped her in the face once.
“He went bad,” she said.
She admitted, however, that she had never seen Mercado hurt Spicer.
The jury did not buy the self-defense angle and found her guilty. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 20, 2026, and is facing 16 years to life in prison.
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