SIMI RAPIST CONVICTED OF MURDER SANCHEZ MAY FACE EXECUTION; PENALTY PHASE STARTS MONDAY.Byline: Grace Lee Staff Writer VENTURA - Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. serial rapist rap·ist n. One who commits rape. Noun 1. rapist - someone who forces another to have sexual intercourse raper aggressor, assailant, assaulter, attacker - someone who attacks Vincent Sanchez was convicted Tuesday of the 2001 murder, kidnap and attempted rape of a 20-year-old Moorpark College Moorpark College is a California-state funded community college located on a 134 acre (542,000 m²) property reclining on a hill in Moorpark, a town in Ventura County, California. student and now could face the death penalty. Sanchez, 32, was found guilty of the first-degree murder, as well as the special circumstances special circumstances n. in criminal cases, particularly homicides, actions of the accused or the situation under which the crime was committed for which state statutes allow or require imposition of a more severe punishment. of attempted rape and kidnapping kidnapping, in law, the taking away of a person by force, threat, or deceit, with intent to cause him to be detained against his will. Kidnapping may be done for ransom or for political or other purposes. , of Megan Barroso, who disappeared on her way home from a party. ``He got a fair trial and now we want to see a just punishment,'' said Barroso's father, Arturo Barroso, who was present when the verdict was read. ``I hope the right thing will be done.'' The same jury that took a week to convict Sanchez will now decide whether he could be executed; the trial's penalty phase will begin Monday. ``I'm waiting for the final step,'' her father said. ``There can't be true healing until there's equitable punishment.'' Sanchez previously was sentenced to life in prison for sexual assaults of nearly a dozen women - attacks that earned him the nickname the Simi Valley rapist. ``We're very pleased with the outcome and looking forward to starting the penalty phase,'' said prosecutor Dee Corona Corona, city, United States Corona (kərō`nə), city (1990 pop. 76,095), Riverside co., S Calif.; inc. 1896. The city developed as a primary citrus fruit producer and shipping center. There is also light manufacturing. . Megan Barroso disappeared in the early morning hours of July 5, 2001, on her way home from an Independence Day party. Her bullet-riddled Pontiac Sunfire The Pontiac Sunfire was introduced in the 1995 model year as the compact car to replace the Sunbird. Not only was the name changed, but dramatic styling changes were included as well. , streaked with blood, was discovered on the shoulder of the Moorpark Freeway, its engine still running. Nearly a month after her disappearance, Barroso's partially clad body was found in a remote ravine near Simi Valley. Police linked Sanchez to the Barroso case while investigating him as the serial rapist they had been pursuing in attacks of women from 1996 and 2001. In a house where Sanchez rented a room, police found a jacket that belonged to Barroso, as well as an AK-47 with a broken handle that matched a piece found near the young woman's car. As the simultaneous rape and murder cases unfolded against him, Sanchez told authorities he'd fired his semiautomatic weapon at Barroso's car but hadn't meant to kill her. He tried to plead guilty to second-degree murder, but prosecutors rejected the move. Instead, they pressed forward with their capital murder case. They contend that Sanchez deliberately killed Barroso, after trying to kidnap and rape her, as he pursued an increasingly violent series of attacks against women. Most of Sanchez's rape victims testified against him at his murder trial, describing how the small-frame man sneaked into their homes - sometimes with family members in the home still awake - and threatened them at knife point. Defense attorneys Neil Quinn and Jan Helfrich, however, argued that Barroso's shooting was sparked by the drunken rage of an unstable man with neither rape nor kidnap on his mind. Quinn argued that Sanchez had been a cautious rapist who wore a ski mask and meticulously staked out his victims' homes. Sanchez was an emotionally damaged man who, despite his crimes, never wanted to hurt his victims, Quinn told jurors. Quinn had also sought a change of venue A change of venue is the legal term for moving a trial to a new location. In high-profile matters, a change of venue may occur to move a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to widespread publicity about a crime and/or defendant(s) for the trial, claiming that his client's history of rapes The concept of rape, both as an abduction and in the sexual sense (not always distinguishable), makes its first historical appearance in early religious texts. was too well known in Ventura County and would prevent him from receiving a fair trial. Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ken Riley Kenneth Jerome Riley (born August 6 1947) is a former professional American Football defensive back who played his entire career for the Cincinnati Bengals, in the American Football League in 1969 and in the NFL from 1970 through 1983. denied that request. Grace Lee, (805) 662-6757 grace.lee(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: SANCHEZ |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion