Man Called "Face of Evil' Gets Death for Murdering Two Girlfriends

KTLA News
9:24 AM PST, November 25, 2009

LONG BEACH -- A man convicted of murdering his girlfriend because she refused to dispose of his previous girlfriend's body has been sentenced to death.

Calling the defendant "a savage beast" and "the face of evil," Superior Court Judge Joan Comparet-Cassani on Tuesday sentenced 28-year-old Santiago Martinez to die by lethal injection.

The jury recommended on Oct. 29 that Martinez be put to death rather than given life without parole.

It took jurors only 30 minutes to reach the unanimous verdict in the case against Martinez.

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.

Authorities believe that Wilkerson was killed out of jealousy and that Orozco was killed after refusing to help Martinez hide evidence from the first killing.

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.

Before handing down the sentence, the judge dismissed a motion for a new trial and an automatic motion asking for the recommended death sentence to be reduced to a prison term.