Franklin real estate agent convicted of 2022 rape

A Franklin real estate agent was found guilty of rape after a nearly week-long trial that included three days of witness testimony, including from the victim.

Eduardo Gonzalez Aguirre, 32, was acquitted of three additional counts of rape, all stemming from an incident on March 10, 2022 in Franklin.

A Williamson County Grand Jury indicted him on the four charges in June 2023.

The prosecution and defense both issued their closing arguments on Thursday afternoon before the jury of 8 men and four women retired for the day.

That jury returned on Friday morning and deliberated for a little more than eight hours before they handed down their verdict in a sparse courtroom in which audible cries could be heard from Aguirre as the verdict of each count was read aloud by the jury’s elected foreperson.

The victim, who we are not identifying, cried quietly throughout the reading of the verdict, while Aguirre’s mother dropped to her knees and silently prayed in the court's gallery.

The trial saw three days of witness testimony, including from a Franklin Police detective and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation forensic specialist.

Among the submitted evidence was a sexual assault kit, cell phone records, two voicemails, security camera footage and a recovered cell phone.

Defense attorneys Joshua Brand and Eileen Parrish framed the case as one of “false allegations” and “two people who made bad choices.”

Victim testimony

The incident took place over the course of several hours on the afternoon of March 10, 2022, inside of a Aguirre’s Dodge Ram truck at two separate Franklin businesses.

As revealed during the trial, the victim had an extended business relationship with Aguirre, a realtor by trade who had previously been employed by the victim.

The two also considered each other friends, having spent time with each other's families in social settings.

“I admired him … when you become a mom, you imagine your kid to have the same opportunity that he has,” the victim testified.

That March morning the victim went to work at a Cool Springs office where she worked as a custodian, but agreed to have lunch with Aguirre after she contacted him about referring a potential client to him.

They both drank beer and shared a glass of liquor during that lunch meeting, something she said was unusual for her to do during the day, but added that she felt comfortable with Aguirre.

Aguirre drove them to and from the restaurant where he paid for their food and drinks. He then suggested that they go to a liquor store.

The victim said she felt fine when they left the restaurant, and purchased a bottle of liquor to pay him back for buying lunch.

Aguirre then drove to the back of the parking lot of the victim's workplace. They both took shots of the liquor in his truck.

“He offered it to me … I felt embarrassed to say, ‘No.’"

It was then that the victim said she began to feel different in a way she'd ever felt before.

“I felt weak. I felt heavy. My vision was blurry. I remember trying to stay awake. I remember I couldn't hold my body. I didn't have the energy to move … When he would say something, I would hear it far away from me," she testified through tears.

The victim reported going in and out of consciousness, remembering Aguirre climbing on top of her and pulling down her leggings while she sat weakened in the truck's passenger seat.

“I remember he said to stop pushing him … I can remember I was telling him to think about his family," she testified, as she described Aguirre sexually assaulting her.

“I remember my tears coming out while he was doing that … I also remember he made a phone call.”

Further evidence

One of the key pieces of evidence was a voicemail that was made by Aguirre on the victim’s cell phone to the victim’s boss.

In that voicemail, Agurrie said, “We’re at Williamson County Medical Center. She's not feeling well,” calling himself a “good friend,” while providing his own cell phone number for her boss to call back.

But, Williamson Medical Center showed no record of admitting or treating the victim.

The victim was missing for hours while children and other family members attempted to call and text her before she was later dropped off at her Chapel Hill home in a truck that her children didn’t recognize.

Family members testified that the victim was “disoriented,” “scared,” and “looked like a zombie” when she arrived home on the evening of March 10, with some concerned that she'd been “drugged.”

She had red marks on her body, and her underwear was missing.

“I felt pain all over my body and I felt pretty disgusted and dirty,” the victim testified.

The next day, the victim filed a police report and underwent a sexual assault examination.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tested oral swabs from Aguirre and oral and vaginal swabs from the victim.

Forensic tests from the victim’s vaginal sample showed the presence of male DNA but the amount of DNA was so little that it didn’t result in a conclusive match to Aguirre.

A nurse noted that the victim had bathed, urinated and changed clothes between the rape and the sexual assault test, all of which could impact the amount of forensic evidence able to be collected and tested.

Another seemingly inadvertent voicemail was also played for the jury. It was a garbled recording with apparent laughter and conversation, none of which was intelligible.

The defense argued that the laughter was proof that the victim had simply gotten drunk with Aguirre and elected to skip work and have sex.

Aguirre drove to the Franklin home of one of his family members who refused to let them into his house. That man testified that the victim was nude in the truck and both she and Aguirre appeared to be intoxicated.

Aguirre then drove the victim to a parking lot of a Franklin grocery store.

He later told the male family member that he'd had sex with the victim. He also told his wife when police came to their home days later.

The victim said while she didn’t remember everything that she’d experienced, including vaginal penetration, she did not consent to having any sexual contact with Aguirre.

Days later, the victim’s phone was found in a puddle of dried vomit in her workplace parking lot in the area where Aguirre's truck had been parked.

Aguirre did not take the stand, but his wife did, testifying that her husband admitted to “cheating” on her, which she described as “the hardest day of my life.”

She said that if she thought her husband was a rapist she wouldn't have stayed with him or been testifying on his behalf.

Sentencing

Per Tennessee law, Aguirre's $25,000 bond was immediately revoked upon the guilty verdict and he was booked into the Williamson County Jail.

“The 21st Judicial District Attorney's Office seeks to find justice and seek justice for victims,” senior district attorney Jennifer Dungan told the Williamson Scene.

“Society is changing in what their views of consent [are,] and I think with that, more victims report and more victims are believed and supported by, in this case by our partners with the Franklin Police Department and then by our office.”

Aguirre is facing between 8 and 12 years in state prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

Defense attorney Brand declined a request from the Williamson Scene to comment on the verdict.

This was the first trial presided over by Williamson County Circuit Judge David Veile who was elected to the bench in March and sworn into office in August.