76-year-old convicted in 2003 murder of his girlfriend, a city of Miami accountant

Seventeen years after municipal accountant Gladys Jorge was beaten to death inside her South Miami home, her killer has been convicted.

A jury on Wednesday afternoon deliberated just about one hour in convicting Eugenio Fariñas, her former live-in boyfriend, of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon.

The verdict ended a week-long trial for the 76-year-old Fariñas, who faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced in the coming weeks.

“It’s been a long time,” said Jennifer Jorge, the victim’s daughter, recalling the moment of the verdict. “It’s kind of surreal. I was holding my brother’s hand. He was holding my aunt’s hand. She was holding my business partner’s hand. I could barely look up. I feel so relieved.”

Homicide detectives long considered Fariñas the chief suspect in the murder of Jorge, a city of Miami financial administrator who was close to retiring when she was slain at 57.

But Fariñas was not charged until 2015, after advancements in DNA testing found his genetic material on bloody items at the crime scene, Rivera said.

At trial, prosecutors Kim Rivera and Marbely Hernandez laid out a circumstantial case that focused chiefly on Fariñas’ found DNA — and a host of clues pointing to the boyfriend.

The killer had locked the door before leaving. Jorge’s daughter, former Broward assistant public defender Jennifer Jorge, testified during the trial that besides the slain woman’s mother, only Fariñas had a spare key.

Fariñas also never returned to get his belongings and did not attend the funeral.

Defense lawyers Brian Kirlew and Tara Kawass told jurors that police failed to focus on several other former lovers, at least one who had a motive to murder Jorge. They also argued that the DNA evidence was not precise — and that his genetic material was in the house because he’d lived there

A judge had earlier ruled that jurors were not allowed to hear some key evidence.

For example, Miami-Dade police got a 911 call the morning after Jorge was murdered. The caller said “someone might be injured” at Jorge’s house. Investigators traced the call. It came from the law office of Allan Knight, who had represented Fariñas in an earlier divorce, the Herald reported in 2003.

Jurors were also not allowed to hear that Jorge had told family that she’d asked Fariñas to move out.

Jennifer Jorge, the victim’s daughter, said she was was upset that the defense portrayed her mother “to be this floozy” — and that jurors were not allowed to hear important evidence.

“Justice was served at the end of the day,” Jennifer Jorge said. “The jurors understood — they cut through the B.S.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 5:10 PM.