Jealous Boyfriend Gets Life in Prison for Attack on Man

A Van Nuys man who was so convinced that his girlfriend was cheating on him that he slashed the throat of her suspected lover was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.

Authorities said Jose Wilfredo Hernandez, 25, attacked Gustavo Mena on Nov. 29, 1992, after his longtime live-in girlfriend falsely reported that she was seeing Mena and then helped lure him to the site of the attack.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp sentenced Hernandez after commenting on his “savage brutality.”

When under pressure, according to Schempp, Hernandez “reverts to the use of a reptilian brain and strikes out savagely.”

Hernandez’s girlfriend, Adriana Casillas, testified during the trial that after years of physical abuse her boyfriend forced her to lure Mena to a darkened street, where he was attacked by Hernandez and two friends.

Later, Hernandez forced Casillas to lick the victim’s blood from his fingers, according to her testimony. “Out of jealousy and for no reason whatsoever, he almost kills an innocent man,” Schempp said. “I believe this was an inhuman act that you did to society . . . and society does not deserve the likes of you on the streets again.”

In addition to the life term for his attempted murder conviction, the judge sentenced Hernandez to an additional 10 years in prison for striking Casillas with a hammer during one beating and of holding a knife to her throat as he demanded sex only hours after stabbing Mena.

Casillas testified that she gave Hernandez the name of Mena, who was a co-worker at a department store, in the hope of ending five years of almost daily beatings.

Jurors in the case unanimously agreed that Casillas acted only in fear.

Mena nearly died from the attack and was saved when a good Samaritan came to his assistance and summoned medical assistance.

Mena did not testify at Hernandez’s trial, and authorities said he may have fled to Mexico out of fear.