Long Beach, CA: Man Gets Death for Murdering Two Girlfriends

KTLA News
11:05 AM PDT, October 30, 2009
in court in 2008 (Photo Courtesy Long Beach Press Telegram)
LONG BEACH -- A man convicted of murdering his girlfriend because she refused to dispose of his previous girlfriend's body has been condemned to death.

It took jurors only 30 minutes Thursday to reach the unanimous verdict in the case against 28 year old Santiago Martinez, Jr.

Martinez was first convicted in 2005 of killing one girlfriend, then convicted last year of killing a second girlfriend when she refused to help Martinez dispose of the first victim's remains.

The first murder victim, Christina Wilkerson, 28, of Long Beach, was stabbed 20 times in the face, neck and body, then shot point blank with a .22 rifle on March 18, 2003. Martinez was sentenced to more than 50 years to life in prison for her death.

He was convicted last November for the murder of Myra Orozco, 24, of Long Beach.

Prosecutors say Orozco was stabbed and slashed close to 30 times in the face, neck and body before Martinez pushed the mortally wounded woman from the car they were sitting in, then ran over her on March 30, 2003.

The jury in that case convicted Martinez of first degree murder and the special circumstance of committing multiple murders, paving the way for the possibility of the death penalty.