A state appellate court panel upheld the first- degree murder convictions this week for a man who killed his estranged wife and her sister in Escondido.
Juan Carlos Ortega was convicted by a Vista jury for the August 2018 deaths of 30-year-old Veronica Soto Ortega and 26-year-old Ana Soto. He was sentenced last year to two consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 26 years to life.
Prosecutors said Ortega killed the women at his wife’s apartment. Both women were stabbed, while Soto was also shot.
At trial, Ortega’s defense attorney did not deny that his client killed the women, but alleged he did so in self-defense after Soto put a knife to his throat, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Firefighters first found Soto’s body inside a burning SUV near Country Club and Kauana Loa drives. Prosecutors said the SUV was registered to her sister.
His wife was found dead at her apartment on West 11th Avenue, a few miles away from the site of the burning vehicle. Two children, then ages 4 and 5, were found unharmed in the apartment.
He was arrested later that day at his workplace in Carlsbad.
–City News Service
