A Bird-In-Hand man was sentenced to two life terms without parole plus 46 months to 13 years in prison by President Judge David Ashworth Wednesday afternoon in Lancaster County Court.

“It takes a special individual to take someone’s life in cold blood and that’s what we have here today,” prosecuting Assistant District Attorney Christopher Miller said to Judge Ashworth. “It takes an even more special person to do it twice in cold blood. He didn’t confine himself to taking two lives. He had to abuse the corpses of Jonathan Rivera and Eugenio Morales-Torres. That’s a really sick and twisted thing to do.”

Miller then asked for two life sentences for the homicides of each victim and the sentences for recklessly burning, abuse of corpse, and tampering with evidence to all run consecutively.

Ezequiel Almodovar, 39 of the 1500 block of Hunsecker Road, faced a mandatory life sentence after being convicted by jury of killing Jonathan Rivera and Eugenio Morales-Torres at his home and then moving and burning the bodies in a truck bed on a farm lane in Manor Township.

Defense counsel argued a single sentence of life in prison without parole would satisfy the points the prosecution raised. The defendant took the opportunity to speak stating, “I know I’m looked at as a monster, but nobody was there at the top of the driveway that night. I fought for my life.”

Judge Ashworth disagreed.

“It wouldn’t be appropriate to sentence you to one life sentence when you took two lives,” Ashworth said to the defendant. “Throughout this case you’ve chosen to blame everyone but yourself.”

Judge Ashworth continued by saying the defendant blamed the victims for their own death and his trial counsel for the guilty verdict. He also said the defendant attempted to manipulate the justice system, never took responsibility for his actions, and only showed remorse for having been convicted. Finally, he mentioned the defendant’s prior record score, which showed multiple convictions of drug dealing.

Two members of Rivera’s family spoke during the proceeding.

“He was a special being in our lives and did not deserve to die in such a way,” one family member said. “You took away a son, brother, and father,” said another.

ADAs Miller and Benjamin Baker presented evidence and testimony to the jury that on July 27, 2020, around 11:50 p.m., East Lampeter Township Police received a call regarding Rivera and Morales-Torres having gone missing, neither being seen or heard from since 7:00 p.m. and their phones going directly to voicemail.

The caller also reported the victims went to visit a friend named “Zeke,” which Almodovar was known to go by. The witness stated she went to Zeke’s house and observed him standing in the driveway with blood on his shirt and Morales-Torres’ Ford F-150 parked in the driveway.

On July 28, 2020, around 6:40 a.m., Manor Township Police Department responded to a burned pick-up truck on Charlestown Road, Manor Township, and discovered charred human remains of two individuals in the bed of the truck. The vehicle was identified by VIN as belonging to Morales-Torres.

The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office identified the individuals to be Rivera and Morales-Torres and determined the cause of death to be gunshot wounds to the body and the manner to be homicide. Both victims were shot in the back.

Further evidence presented by the Commonwealth included Almodovar’s neighbors hearing multiple gunshots at the time of the shooting, firearm shell casings found on his driveway, and a bag of blood found in his garage.

Defense counsel argued self-defense, stating the victims showed up at Almodovar’s house to rob him because they knew he was a drug dealer and would have money/drugs at his home.

Miller responded in his closing argument saying the defendant’s testimony during trial wasn’t credible because he concealed evidence immediately by burning the bodies and cell phones, destroying home surveillance footage, and trying to create an alibi.

The jury returned its verdict in roughly two hours around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 13, 2023.

East Lampeter Township Police Detective Scott Eelman filed charges, testified, and attended the entirety of trial. Pennsylvania State Police, Manor Township Police, and Lancaster County Detectives assisted in the investigation.

Previous releases regarding this case:

Charges Filed, Defendant in Custody

Preliminary Hearing

Trial/Conviction

MEDIA CONTACT: Sean McBryan, semcbryan@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @SeanMcBryanLanc.