NORWALK : 3 Guilty in Detective’s Slaying
Three men were convicted Tuesday for the June, 1990, slaying of a Fullerton detective who was ambushed during an undercover drug operation.
Raul Meza, 41, Jose Yuriar, 26, and Jesus Araclio, 31, face the death penalty because they murdered Detective Tommy De La Rosa during a robbery. A spokesman for the district attorney’s office said the three men contacted De La Rosa, who was working undercover as a drug dealer, to purchase 400 pounds of cocaine. When they met for the transaction, De La Rosa was ambushed and gunned down.
Police said that De La Rosa’s death was the culmination of an investigation into a major cocaine distribution network operating in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
The detective was a decorated Vietnam veteran and had been named outstanding Latino police officer of the year before his death. A jury will decide Friday whether the three will get the death penalty or life in prison without possibility of parole.
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