The weekender you are updatered on: the plea deal that could have a pair charged in the gang beating death of a 19-year-old man out of prison in three years; an ex-boyfriend who got life in prison for murdering a young man the defendant's ex-girlfriend had accused of rape; and a former children's photographer's punishment for molesting a relative under age 14.
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Noel Perez Aguilar, 2011 OC Homicide No. 11: Gang Beating Victim Left to Die in Truck Bed
Update: Adsalon Isai Montes and Christian Rogelio Maroquin, who were around the same age as a 19-year-old man who was beaten to death during a gang fight in Orange four years ago, were sentenced this week to 11 years in prison for their roles in the slaying. Under a plea deal, Montes, 22, and Maroquin, 23, both of Orange themselves, pleaded guilty June 4 to voluntary manslaughter and admitted to a sentencing enhancement for gang activity. In exchange, prosecutors dropped murder charges in the March 11, 2011, killing of Noel Perez Aguilar, who was punched twice–once while unconscious–during a brawl outside an ATM. There was conflicting evidence of who started the fight, according to Deputy District Attorney Dave Porter, who added that with time already served in jail, Montes and Maroquin could be out of lockup in about three years.
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Norma Patricia Esparza, Respected Professor, Faces Trial for Killing Man She Says Raped Her
Update: Gianni Anthony Van was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1995 stabbing murder of a man who the Costa Mesa man's girlfriend claimed had raped her. The 45-year-old was convicted in May of first-degree murder, and jurors found true a special circumstance allegation that the killing of 24-year-old Gonzalo Ramirez on April 16, 1995, was done during a kidnapping. Ramirez sustained a fractured skull and well over 30 heavy blade cuts, some that went through the bone and almost severed his arm. He bled to death but his multiple defensive wounds showed he “had time to fight for his life,” prosecutor Mike Murray said during closing arguments. Van had been the boyfriend of Norma Esparza, who'd claimed Ramirez raped her and pointed him out to his killers. She cut a plea deal that had her testifying in the case, something she'd previously tried to avoid through a sham marriage to Van that ended in 2006. Esparza went on to become a respected university professor, got remarried and moved with her husband and young daughter to France on the Swiss border. She was arrested after returning to the U.S. to attend a conference.
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Isaac Krivashei Accused of Being Pervy Old School Photographer Who Molests Little Girls
Update: Former children's photographer Isaac Krivashei was sentenced Friday to 10 years and eight months in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration for molesting a relative under the age of 14 and possessing kiddie porn. The 75-year-old Mission Viejo resident had been found guilty by a jury on March 19, 2015, of two felony counts of lewd acts on a child under the age of 14, one felony count of possession and control of child pornography, and a sentencing enhancement for engaging in substantial sexual conduct with a child. Besides the female relative who was molested multiple times between Aug. 25, 2003, and Aug. 24, 2010, a different relative told authorities Krivashei had committed a similar crime against her. But since it happened outside of the statute of limitations, he could not be charged for the former crimes, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office. During sentencing, the first girl's mother told the court her daughter “was no longer happy” after being victimized by Krivashei. “She started having hysterical crying sessions that would seem to start for no reason, but would last for hours,” said the mother before going on to accuse the defendant of having “lied and tried to skirt the system so that he doesn't pay for his crimes.”
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.