| For Immediate Release Case # 08NF3673 November 30, 2011 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
MAN FACES TRIAL FOR ROBBERY-MURDER OF MARRIED FATHER OF TWO AFTER GAINING ACCESS TO HOME WITH PROMISE OF SEX
SANTA ANA – A man faces trial tomorrow for the bludgeoning-murder of a married father of two in order to rob him under the pretense of meeting for sex. Jaime Jezzuel Lopez, 29, Garden Grove, is charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder in the commission of a robbery and faces a sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. Opening statements are expected to begin tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, at 9:15 a.m. in Department C-30, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
On the morning of June 4, 2007, Rejinold Harry, 45, a married father of two sons, invited Lopez to his one bedroom Fullerton apartment while the victim’s two sons were at school and his wife was at work. Lopez is accused of entering the apartment under the pretense of having sex with the victim with the intention of robbing him.
After Harry had undressed, Lopez is accused of murdering him by hitting him multiple times in the back of the head with a heavy object. He is accused of then ransacking the apartment, stealing money and jewelry, and fleeing the scene.
At 1:30 p.m., Harry’s naked, murdered body was found lying face down on the bed by his wife.
The case was investigated by the Fullerton Police Department, but went cold.
In 2008, Lopez was linked to the murder through DNA found at the crime scene on the rim of a drinking glass.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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