Lake Elsinore Halloween Killer’s Fate Decided By O.C. Jury

A Lake Elsinore man was found guilty Wednesday in a Santa Ana courthouse of a grizzly cold case murder that occurred on Halloween night, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has reported.

Hector Delio Aguilar Jaramillo, 42, was found guilty by a jury of one felony count of murder and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life at his sentencing scheduled 9 a.m. March 9 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

According to a news release from the O.C. District Attorney’s Office, on the night of Oct. 31, 2006, Jaramillo entered the Anaheim home and bedroom of 35-year-old Roberto Martinez-Escamilla, who was the long-time boyfriend of Jaramillo’s wife’s sister.

The defendant stabbed Martinez-Escamilla multiple times and cut the victim’s throat, almost decapitating him, the DA’s office stated. The defendant then fled.

Other tenants in the home heard the victim screaming for help and called 911, according to the DA’s office. The Anaheim Police Department responded to the scene, collected evidence, and investigated the case, but it went cold.

However, in March 2010 Jaramillo was linked to the murder after he was arrested for assault in Riverside County. His DNA was submitted to a state database and was linked to the murder through DNA found on a glove at the crime scene, the DA’s office stated.

According to a report from The Orange County Register, however, defense attorney Frank Davis argued that his client was in Tijuana at the time of the stabbing. Click here to read the Register’s full story.