Man Convicted of Killing Ex-Girlfriend

A 27-year-old man was convicted Friday in Orange County Superior Court of murdering his 22-year-old ex-girlfriend and dumping her body in a remote area southeast of Hemet.

Julian Albert Villa of Whittier admitted he killed Diana Garcia Luna in 1996 but claimed her death was an accident.

Defense attorneys argued that Villa had lost control during an argument and strangled the mother of his 3-year-old son.

Jurors said reaching a verdict was difficult because they had little to work with other than the statements the defendant gave police after he was in custody. Luna’s body yielded few clues, because it was badly decomposed by the time it was found.

Villa, who was on parole for a 1992 armed robbery in Los Angeles, led police to Luna’s body in a barren spot in the high desert two weeks after she finished a shift as a waitress in Garden Grove and disappeared.

Deputy Public Defender Lisa Kopelman said she was disappointed with the verdict but pleased the jury had not found Villa guilty of the special circumstance of murder during a rape.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis Rosenblum said it was a difficult trial because there was so little evidence.

Luna’s mother left the Orange County Superior courtroom in tears. The conviction, she said, did nothing to ease her pain.

“Whatever happens to him does not bring her back,” said Ofelia Chavez.

Villa could face a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in prison when he is sentenced July 31.