Anaheim : Admitted Murderer Spared Death Penalty

An Anaheim man, who may have spared himself a possible death sentence by turning himself in for the slaying of a young woman he had met outside a bar, was sentenced to life in prison without parole Tuesday.

Carlos Enrique Ovando, 25, took a minister with him to confess killing Rosario Arevalo, 24, in a garage near the La Perla bar in Anaheim. The confession came the day after she was found dead on Aug. 26, 1985.

Anaheim police officers were surprised at Ovando’s confession. He had not been a suspect; in fact, the police had no suspects in the woman’s death.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard M. King said his office did not seek the death penalty for Ovando, partly because he turned himself in.

However, jurors not only convicted Ovando last month of first-degree murder but also found that special circumstances of attempted rape occurred. That automatically elevated Ovando’s penalty from 25 years to life in prison to life without parole.

Ovando’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender William G. Kelley, asked Superior Court Judge Phillip E. Cox Tuesday to reduce Ovando’s sentence, but Cox refused.

Ovando said he beat up the young woman after she laughed at his inability to perform sexually. But he testified that he was unaware that the beating had led to her death until the next day, when he saw the police cars by the bar, which is near his home.

Last month, Ovando also pleaded guilty to raping a woman who was eight months pregnant, just a few days before Arevalo was murdered.