Man Enters Not Guilty Plea in Slaying of Ex-Girlfriend

A 24-year-old Chula Vista man pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday to murdering a former girlfriend whose nude body was found alongside a road in Tijuana.

Mark Anton Cadiz, who lives in the 500 block of J Street in Chula Vista, will be held on $1-million bail at the County Jail, said a San Diego Municipal Court spokeswoman. A preliminary hearing has been set for Nov. 11.

Cadiz was arrested late Friday afternoon by Chula Vista Police, who had him under surveillance, Lt. Dean Girdner said.

The body of his former girlfriend, 30-year-old Diane Egay Casora, was found Sept. 12 off a road in the rural La Mesa area of Tijuana. Her wrists were bound with light green wrapping tape and her face was wrapped in the tape “like a mask,” Girdner said.

Results of an initial autopsy done in Mexico showed that Casora died of asphyxiation.

There was also evidence in the autopsy report that Casora, who lived in the 200 block of Garrett Avenue in Chula Vista, had been sexually assaulted and beaten in the stomach, Girdner said.

Casora, who worked as an operator for AT&T;, had been reported missing by her sister on Sept. 14 when she failed to show up for work.

Her family and police were eventually able to identify Casora on Sept. 19 because family members read a story in a Mexican newspaper about an unidentified body that had been found in Tijuana.

A motive for the killing has not yet been determined but police said they arrested Cadiz, who works as a bouncer at a National City lounge, because of physical evidence that was discovered.

“I can’t get into all the detail,” said Girdner.

Police say they believe that Casora was killed somewhere in Chula Vista and her body was then taken to Mexico in her car, Girdner said.

Investigators are still looking for Casora’s 1989 black, 4-door Volkswagen Jetta with the license plate number 2MRC110.