A self-proclaimed “sex slave” had her bid to have her conviction for killing a Marine’s wife overturned rejected after a California judge ruled it was “unreasonable” to believe she was simply following orders from her “masters” in the country. brutal murder through BDSM.
Jessica Lopez, 36, who described herself as a slave and in a relationship with Marine Sgt. Louis Ray Pérez and his girlfriend, Dorothy Maraglino, initially confessed to the 2012 murder of 22-year-old Brittany Killgore.
Killgore, whose husband was serving in Afghanistan, was kidnapped by the BDSM-loving trio, forced into sexual slavery, tortured and strangled before police found her body in a ditch on April 17, 2012.
The gruesome details were discovered in a seven-page confession letter Lopez wrote when she attempted suicide at a San Diego inn after Killgore’s body was found.
But last week, Lopez recanted his confession, claiming that he was not actually present when Killgore was murdered and that his confession and suicide attempt were all at Maraglino’s behest in an alleged attempt to shift all the blame to the “slave.” . reports the San Diego Union Tribune.
Jessica Lopez was convicted of the murder of Brittany Killgore in 2012. AP
Killgore was killed while her husband, Corey, a Marine, was serving in Afghanistan.
Lopez argued that his conviction should be overturned under a 2018 change in California law that allowed accomplices who did not participate in the actual killings to avoid murder charges.
However, Superior Court Judge Robert Kearney rejected Lopez’s story on Tuesday.
“I don’t think it’s a credible or reasonable statement of what occurred that day,” Kearney said.
The judge explained that given the master-mistress-slave relationship, it seemed clear that López was willing to participate in the murder.
Prosecutors said text messages show the plot to kill Killgore was concocted by Dorothy Maraglino. AP
Killgore was lured into torture and death by her husband’s friend, Marine Sgt. Luis Ray Pérez. AP
Prosecutors said during trials that Killgore was divorcing her husband, Corey, and looking to move when Perez approached her and offered to help her.
In reality, Killgore had fallen into a plot hatched by Maraglino, who disliked her, and the couple and Lopez kidnapped her on April 13, 2012.
Sloan Ostbye, Lopez’s attorney, argued last week that the “sex slave” had no control over the situation and was told to watch television upstairs while the couple tortured Killgore.
“She was willing to be cut, tattooed, eaten out of bowls, and she was even willing to commit suicide,” Ostbye said of his client. She “was so controlled and brainwashed that she did everything she was told.”
Killgore was preparing to divorce her husband when Perez offered to help her move.
But Kearney rejected the argument, pointing out that Lopez was in a consensual BDSM relationship with the couple, and it should have been clear that what they were doing to Killgore was wrong.
The judge also rejected Lopez’s claim that he had no free will, again pointing to the consensual nature of their relationship and his willingness to please his “lover.”
“She was obviously willing to do anything she could to please Ms. Maraglino, and I think that included killing,” Kearney said.
Police found her body four days after she disappeared on April 13, 2012.
Killgore’s parents, Darryl and Michelle Wrest, attended Tuesday’s hearing virtually, and while they were grateful for the judge’s ruling, they criticized the California law that allowed Lopez to try to appeal his case after all these years.
“Relitigating this was absurd,” Michelle told the Tribune, noting that she and her husband had to fly from Missouri to attend Lopez’s testimony last week.
“We are very frustrated. “It is very difficult,” added the grieving mother.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn