LOS ANGELES – District Attorney Steve Cooley
credited the
www.escapingjustice.com website today with leading
to the eventual capture in Mexico of Daniel Perez,
convicted in absentia in 1999 of trying to kill his wife
and suspected of murdering her father after he testified
for the prosecution at Perez’s trial in Norwalk.
“Daniel Perez has not escaped justice,” Cooley said
at a news conference. “He was returned to Los Angeles
from Mexico City yesterday. He will not only serve the
life sentence already imposed by the court in Norwalk
for attempted murder of Anabella Vara, he also will be
tried by District Attorney Mike Ramos in San Bernardino
County for the murder of her father.”
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Anabella Vara
speaks at a press conference announcing the
extradition of her ex-husband from Mexico. She
is flanked by Los Angeles County District
Attorney Steve Cooley (right) and San Bernardino
County District Attorney Mike Ramos (left).
Photo by John R. Stephens. |
Cooley noted that in April 2005, an informant
contacted www.escapingjustice.com and said that Perez was
living in Mexico under an assumed name. In October 2001,
the Mexican Supreme Court had ruled that there would be
no extraditions for those facing life prison terms,
preventing extraditions of what authorities believe are
hundreds of criminals who escaped to Mexico to avoid
prosecution. Because Perez already had been tried in
absentia and sentenced to what amounted to two life
prison terms, there was little authorities could do at
the time.
But the informant kept in touch with the Los Angeles
County District Attorney’s Office. And on Nov. 29, 2005,
the Mexican Supreme Court reversed its ruling. The Los
Angeles County District Attorney’s office began to
submit requests for provisional arrest. The Perez
request, one of the first, went out on Dec. 7, 2005. He
was arrested on Jan. 24, 2006, and has remained in
custody in Mexico City during the appellate process.
Perez’s lost his final appeal on March 23. He
surrendered to the U.S. Marshals Service yesterday and
was flown back to Los Angeles.
Cooley said the first face Perez saw when he was
escorted off the airplane yesterday was that of retired
Detective Richard Wade of the South Gate Police
Department. Wade worked on the original case and for the
past eight years has provided protection for Anabella
Vara and her family. He also drafted the investigator’s
affidavit for the formal extradition.
Wade and Anabella Vara were at the news conference
along with San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike
Ramos, who will try Perez for murdering Carlos Vara, 47,
on Aug. 28, 1999, a day after he testified for the
prosecution at the Norwalk trial.
“This demonstrates that it is never too late to get
justice for victims and their families. If you commit a
murder in San Bernardino County, we’re going to come
after you,” Ramos said.
“I applaud the efforts of law enforcement and the Los
Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in the
resolution of this matter. I especially want to commend
Steve Cooley for taking the lead on this issue when
Mexican law changed and allowed for the extradition of
murderers facing life terms,” Ramos added.
Cooley said Perez’s extradition was the result of
cooperative work between his office and the San
Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.
“In July 2006, my office provided a three-hour
international issues training seminar for San Bernardino
County police and prosecutors. My office assisted in the
drafting of their extradition documents. This
extradition was a joint effort by both offices and I
want to commend them for their efforts.”
Perez, 35, was free on $1 million bail during the
August 1999 jury trial before Superior Court Judge Peter
Espinoza in Norwalk. The day after Carlos Vara, 47,
testified at the trial, he was shot to death at his home
in Fontana. Perez did not show up in court the next day
and the judge ruled that the trial would continue in his
absence.
Anabella Vara already had begun testifying before her
father was murdered. She finished the next day,
describing how her husband stalked and kidnapped her on
April 9, 1999. He held her at gunpoint several hours
until she agreed to return to their home in Long Beach
in a ruse that she hoped would allow her to escape.
Perez let her drive her own car. He was his in car
and she was to follow him. Instead, she used her cell
phone to call 911 and tried to flee. What followed was a
wild car chase through South Gate that ended with a
traffic collision. Anabella Vara said Perez came to her
car and shot her in the head. She survived the
through-and-through bullet wound.
The jury deliberated less than half a day on Aug. 31,
1999, before convicting Perez of one count each of
attempted first-degree murder, corporal injury to a
spouse, kidnapping, false imprisonment by violence and
stalking. The jury also found that the Perez used a
handgun to commit the crimes. On Oct. 26, 1999, Perez
was sentenced to 33 years and eight months to life in
prison plus life. The sentence amounted to two life
terms.
Also attending the news conference with Chief Deputy
Aldran Lee of the U.S. Marshals Service, John Clark and
John Hession of the U.S. Marshals Service, Fontana
Police Chief Larry Clark and Guillermo Fonseca of the
Mexican Attorney General’s Office.
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