2 Face Trial in Slaying of Restaurateur

Two men linked to the June slaying of Ventura restaurant owner Felipe Arambula will stand trial on charges of murder, burglary and attempted kidnapping, a Ventura County judge ruled Friday.

After a two-day preliminary hearing, Judge Arturo F. Gutierrez said there is sufficient evidence to show Jose Alberto Vazquez, 37, and William David Hampton, 19, were involved in a bungled kidnapping plot that resulted in the fatal shooting of Arambula at his Ventura house.

“The totality of the circumstances clearly points to a conspiracy,” the judge said before ordering the pair to stand trial in Superior Court next year.

Authorities say Vazquez, a Camarillo resident, planned a kidnap-for-hire scheme. He allegedly agreed to pay Hampton and a second suspect, 20-year-old Manuel Vasquez, to nab the restaurant owner when he came from work on the night of June 13.

Witnesses testified the motive was money, and that Arambula may have owed as much as $50,000 to Vazquez or his wife, Monica Donahoo.

One witness testified that weeks before the killing, Vazquez had given Hampton and Vasquez a gun. And investigators learned Vazquez had also bought airline tickets to Mexico for himself and his wife and a ticket to Texas for Hampton.

But the kidnapping plan went awry when Arambula, the 35-year-old owner of Taqueria Vallarta in downtown Ventura, fought the two intruders he encountered inside his home, authorities said.

After a struggle that lurched from room to room, Arambula was shot six times in the arms and torso, according to court testimony.

Two months later, Hampton, a Casitas Springs resident, admitted to police he had fired the deadly rounds. But he repeatedly denied the killing was premeditated. Instead, he insisted the plan was to “scare” Arambula and take him to a set location, according to police.

Whether Hampton or his alleged cohorts intended to kill Arambula could determine whether the defendants face execution.

In addition to murder, the defendants are each charged with two special circumstance allegations that mean the defendants can be considered for the death penalty. Those allegations are that the killing was committed during a burglary and attempted kidnapping.

Outside the courtroom Friday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Simon said prosecutors will weigh the degree of premeditation when deciding whether to seek the death penalty.

“Certainly they went there to kidnap him and we can speculate about what they were going to do with him if he didn’t have the money,” Simon said.

Evidence presented this week showed that three months before the killing, Donahoo, the widow of a wealthy card club owner, deposited $50,000 into accounts later used by Arambula.

Authorities said Arambula and Donahoo were friends. One investigator testified that Arambula’s wife, Yazmin, found a business card among her husband’s belongings with Donahoo’s telephone number written on the back. Yazmin Arambula told investigators she did not know any of the suspects in the case or Donahoo.

Prosecutors have also charged Manuel Vasquez with murder and related charges. Vasquez, a Santa Paula resident, fled the country after the shooting, officials said.

He is believed to be hiding in Mexico.