Man Gets Life Term in Restaurateur Death : Courts: Jose Vazquez will not be eligible for parole for masterminding botched kidnapping of Felipe Arambula.

A Camarillo businessman whose ill-conceived plan to kidnap a restaurant owner took a deadly turn was ordered Tuesday to spend the rest of his life in prison, without a chance for parole, after being convicted of murder.

Jose Vazquez, 38, sat expressionless during a two-hour sentencing hearing. He offered no statements of remorse to the family of victim Felipe Arambula, who leaves behind a wife and two children, ages 2 and 3.

As the defendant walked out of court, he quietly cursed at several members of the Arambula family who had urged the judge to impose a harsh sentence.

“I am here to tell you how this bad person hurt us by killing our son,” said Ignacio Arambula, the victim’s father. “I want him to see what he did.”

But Vazquez maintained that he did nothing wrong. His attorney, Steven Andrade, filed two motions before the hearing asking the judge to set aside the jury’s verdict or reduce the sentence.

When those motions were denied, Andrade argued that his client should be sentenced to probation instead of imprisonment because he has no criminal history and was not present at the time of the killing.

“We have a man with no prior record,” Andrade said. “Mr. Vazquez would very much appreciate the opportunity to be on probation.”

But Ventura County Superior Court Judge Donald Coleman rejected the defense request and handed down the maximum sentence.

Coleman said the evidence clearly shows Vazquez orchestrated a plan to kidnap Arambula by hiring two men to abduct the restaurateur and giving one of them a firearm. While he may not have intended to kill Arambula, the judge said, Vazquez is still legally responsible for his death.

“He was the primary conspirator,” Coleman said. “He was the mastermind.”

Coleman concluded that the victim was vulnerable, accosted in his own home while his wife and children were in the other room. He said Vazquez was responsible not only for the physical injuries sustained by Arambula, but for the emotional wounds suffered by his family.

He ordered the defendant to pay nearly $10,000 to Arambula’s wife to cover the cost of burial expenses, and instructed him to pay an additional $10,000 to the state victims’ restitution fund.

After the hearing, prosecutors praised Coleman’s ruling, saying the judge had wide discretion in deciding how Vazquez should be punished based on the fact that he was not the person who actually pulled the trigger.

“I do think it is the right sentence for Mr. Vazquez,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Calvert. “The person who actually did the shooting is in prison, and it is my belief that the person who set it all up should face the same penalty--if not more.”

Vazquez faced five felony charges--murder, attempted kidnapping, burglary, false imprisonment and assault with a stun gun even though he was miles from the crime scene June 13, 1998.

That night, Arambula was fatally shot six times at his upscale Ventura home while trying to fight off two intruders, later identified as William David Hampton Jr., 20, and Manuel Vasquez, 21.

Prosecutors say the pair were sent by Jose Vazquez to kidnap Arambula because he allegedly owed $50,000 to the defendant’s wife, Monica Vazquez. But Jose Vazquez denied any involvement in a kidnapping scheme.

During the trial, Andrade suggested that Hampton and Manuel Vasquez broke into Arambula’s house on their own to rob him of cash he often brought home from his downtown Ventura restaurant, Taqueria Vallarta.

But prosecutors presented evidence that Manuel Vasquez called Jose Vazquez three times from Arambula’s house just minutes before the shooting--evidence they said showed he was orchestrating the plan from afar.

Jose Vazquez later admitted buying an airline ticket to Texas for Hampton after the killing, but explained to police that while he was innocent he feared he would be implicated if Hampton was caught because his dislike for Arambula was well known.

The victim had a brief love affair with Monica Vazquez before she married Jose, according to court testimony.

Earlier this year, Hampton admitted his role in the shooting after waiving a jury trial. He is now serving a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole.

Authorities believe Manuel Vasquez fled the country. Calvert said they are trying to locate him in Mexico, and may ask authorities there to press charges if he is found.

In the meantime, Arambula’s relatives said they are trying to cope with their loss.

A cattle farmer in Jalisco, Mexico, Ignacio Arambula told the judge Tuesday that he had to borrow $2,000 last summer to rush to Ventura after being told his eldest son had been shot. When he arrived, he learned Felipe was dead.

“The entire family has been killed,” he said.

Two of the victim’s sisters told Coleman their brother, one of six children, worked hard to make a good life for his family. But they said he made a poor choice by getting mixed up with Monica Vazquez.

Now, sister Evelia Fourriel said, his two children will grow up without a father.

“The children still do not understand why he is not with them,” she said. “What future awaits them without a father?”