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Prison Transfer Awaits Sugarloaf Convicted Murderer

Sentenced To 15 Years To Life for Stabbing Wife in 1992

By G.T. Houts
Monday, June 1, 2009

Rancho Cucamonga, CA - A 46-year-old Sugarloaf man is awaiting transfer to state prison after being sentenced to 15 years to life for the stabbing of his wife on August 10, 1992.

Gustavo Lara Perez, convicted October 21, 2008 of stabbing his wife, Gina, thirteen times, will be transferred to the California Institution for Men (CIM) in Chino from West Valley Detention Center (WVDC) in Rancho Cucamonga. He was jailed at WVDC after being sentenced on Friday in what was once a cold-case.

The California Institution for Men (CIM) is located at 14901 Central Avenue in Chino. (Photo by CA Department of Corrections.)

Perez, whose attorney claimed it could have been his wife's boyfriend who stabbed the woman 13 times and left her body in a bathtub at their Sugarloaf residence, was given credit for 1,028 days served.

Judge Miriam Ivy Morton pronounced sentence Friday at the Barstow Law and Justice Center, after denying motions for a new trial and dismissal. The judge also denied a request to reduce the charge to manslaughter. Perez will be eligible for parole on the single count of second degree murder.

The Barstow Law and Justice Center, housing the San Bernardino County Superior Court, is located at 235 Mountain View Street in Barstow. (Photo by SBC Superior Court.)

Perez was arrested for the death of his 26-year-old wife at his place of employment in Bellflower in August 2006 after cold-case detectives revisited the case.

Following the 16-day trial, the jury deliberated just eight hours over two days before announcing their guilty verdict.

During Friday's sentencing hearing, the victim's mother, Patricia Sepulveda, and her two sisters—Sushanna Khimas and Cheryl Sepulveda—provided statements in open court.