LUBBOCK, Texas — A San Diego, California man accepted a plea deal Monday in the 2020 death of a Hale County man whom he was dating.
According to federal court documents, Alexander Yoichi Duberek, 24, pleaded guilty to a count of interstate domestic violence in the October 31, 2020 stabbing death of his victim.
State court records in a separately-filed murder case listed the victim as Chad Luera, 30.
Luera’s body was found a few days later on November 2 along the side of the road on Farm-to-Market Road 400.
Court records said Duberek traveled from California to Lubbock for the purpose of murder. When he got to Lubbock, he purchased a car with cash.
Court records said, “After purchasing the vehicle, Duberek traveled to a Walmart store in Lubbock and purchased $563.48 worth of merchandise used to murder [the victim]…”
“Among the items Duberek purchased were a seat cover for a vehicle, tick repellant spray, a gas can, a knife, a hatchet, a collapsible shovel, a head lamp, a flashlight, a backpack, bath towels, Febreeze, water boots, shoes, a jacket, a first aid kit, a change of clothing, and personal hygiene items,” court records also said.
If a judge accepts the plea deal, Duberek faces up to life in federal prison.
The following is a statement from federal prosecutors:
San Diego Man Pleads Guilty After Fatally Stabbing Boyfriend
A San Diego man who stabbed his boyfriend 93 times pleaded guilty today to a federal crime, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
Alexander Yoichi Duberek, 25, was indicted in September 2021. He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of interstate domestic violence resulting in death.
“This defendant plotted the murder of an innocent young man, methodically purchasing equipment, locating a stretch of desolate road, and stabbing the victim nearly eight dozen times,” said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham. “Not every brutal domestic homicide falls within federal jurisdiction, but when it does, we are determined to use whatever tools we have to bring the perpetrator to justice. Mr. Duberek now faces the possibility of a life behind bars pondering his evil act.”
According to plea papers, Mr. Duberek admitted that on Oct. 31, 2020, he traveled from his home in San Diego to his boyfriend’s home in Plainview, Texas, where he committed the fatal stabbing on the side of a rural farm road.
Mr. Duberek admitted that after arriving at the Lubbock airport that evening, he took a cab to a Sam’s Club parking lot where he purchased a Toyota Camry for $3,000 cash. He then drove to a Walmart, where he purchased a knife, a hatchet, a gas can, a collapsible shovel, a head lamp, a change of clothing, boots, personal hygiene items, and a first aid kit.
He then murdered his 30-year-old boyfriend and dumped his body.
Following the murder, Mr. Duberek fled to Houston, where he sold the vehicle used in the murder to an individual outside an auto auction. Investigators later searched the vehicle and found blood in the back seat that matched the victim.
The defendant remained at large for roughly five months before turning himself in to San Diego law enforcement on March 18, 2021. While being booked into jail, he was asked about a tattoo of his boyfriend’s first name on his ring finger; he answered that it was the name of the person he had killed.
Mr. Duberek now faces up to life in federal prison.
The Hale County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Rangers, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas and San Diego Field Offices conducted the investigation with the assistance of the U.S. Secret Service’s Dallas Field Office and the Texas Highway Patrol’s Houston Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Callie Woolam and Sean Long are prosecuting the case.
