During opening statements to jurors Friday, Francisco "Flaco" Martinez's lawyer contended that Estella Magana was the puppet master who used Martinez to murder her husband.

On the courtroom wall in front of the jury, attorney Anita Candelaria showed a large black-and-white image of a person who appeared to be dangling from three strings.

Above the puppet-like image in bold black letters was the name Francisco Martinez.

Candelaria argued that Martinez, 41, is a borderline mentally retarded alcoholic who lived behind a trash bin near a busy commercial intersection in Ventura.

"He did not have an ability to plan," Candelaria said, later conceding, "That doesn't mean he is not guilty of a lesser crime."

Martinez is on trial in Ventura County Superior Court for first-degree murder in connection with the July 4, 2005, fatal stabbing near Ventura of Magana's husband, 66-year-old Manuel Jesus Campos of Oxnard.

In May, jurors found Magana, 53, guilty of first-degree murder and lying in wait during the commission of a murder. Jurors also decided she committed the crime for financial gain.

Magana's daughter, Adelina Magana, 19, is the third defendant. She testified against her mother in May and on Friday against Martinez. In exchange for her testimony, she will plead guilty to a reduced felony — voluntary manslaughter.

Candelaria on Friday showed jurors photographs of the trash bin and its cinder-block enclosure where Martinez, who worked as a day laborer, lived. She also showed photographs of Estella Magana's middle-class Oxnard house, to compare it to the filth and squalor of Martinez's habitation.

During her opening statements, however, Senior Deputy District Attorney Stacy Ratner described Martinez as a braggart who talked about using weapons and hurting people. Martinez was in love with Estella Magana and was willing to beat or kill Campos, said Ratner.

Magana hated her husband and had him killed by manipulating her daughter and Martinez into a plan that included luring the victim to a remote area off Olivas Park Drive as part of a ruse that Magana's car had broken down, according to Ratner.

Ratner said the killing took place on the Fourth of July because Magana figured people would think the gunshots were just firecrackers going off.

"He (Martinez) told her that the sound of fireworks makes him want to kill," Ratner told jurors, adding that Martinez relished the idea of carrying out the plan.

"I am going to show him what a real man is," Ratner said Martinez bragged. "He (Campos) was a good man and went to help her with her car."