San Diego Union Tribune
By Teri Figueroa and Dana Littlefield
Three people accused of conspiring to lure a 22-year-old Fallbrook woman out of her home three years ago, killing her and dumping her body in a neighboring county were convicted of first-degree murder and other felony charges Wednesday.
Louis Ray Perez, Dorothy Grace Marie Maraglino and Jessica Lynn Lopez were found guilty of murder, kidnapping, torture and attempted sexual battery by restraint. Perez and Maraglino were also convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, though jurors acquitted Lopez of that charge.
The defendants were involved in bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism, often referred to as BDSM. Their conversations, writings and other expressions of BDSM fantasies became a major component of the evidence presented during the six-week trial, and several people who participated in the lifestyle were called to testify.
“We owe a great debt of gratitude to these individuals who basically exposed parts of their personal life to come forward and to offer testimony in hopes that ultimately justice could prevail,” said Deputy District Attorney Patrick Espinoza after the verdicts were read, noting that the witnesses had been apprehensive because of intense media coverage early on in the case.
The victim, Brittany Killgore, was not involved in BDSM. Prosecutors Espinoza and Garret Wong argued that Killgore became the victim of the defendants’ abduction fantasies played out in real life. She had just filed for divorce from her then-deployed Marine husband and was preparing to move back home with her parents in another state when she was killed.
On first hearing the word “guilty” for first-degree murder, Killgore’s parents hugged each other Wednesday as they sat in the front row of the courtroom. Her father Darryl Wrest closed his eyes as the guilty verdicts kept coming. Her mother Michelle Wrest dabbed her eyes.
Later, the mother thanked prosecutors for their work, and credited Sheriff’s Detective Brian Patterson with “keeping us from completely losing our minds.”
“Our daughter was a beautiful young woman inside and out, and unfortunately she ran across people that were not good, were monsters, and took her life,” Michelle Wrest said. “She is going to be missed for the rest of our lives and we’ve got a lot of family that had to deal with this on a daily basis.
“We love her very much.” …