Defendant Admits Strangling Ojai Valley Teenager

In a stunning turnaround on the eve of trial, murder defendant David Alvarez admitted Friday to strangling Oak View teen Kali Manley and prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining charges against him.

The plea agreement, reached after days of behind-the-scenes negotiations, gives Alvarez a glimmer of hope of being released from prison someday.

And it brings a welcome end to a case that struck a nerve in the serene Ojai Valley, where hundreds of people had searched for the missing girl and later mourned her death.

Manley, a 14-year-old high school freshman, disappeared from a sleepover at a girlfriend’s house on Dec. 19, 1998, after climbing into a truck with Alvarez and another man.

For more than a year after Alvarez led authorities to Manley’s strangled body, he maintained his innocence in the slaying.

On Friday, however, the 23-year-old Ojai man walked into Ventura County Superior Court during a hastily arranged hearing and pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder.

With his parents seated nearby, Alvarez answered a series of yes-and-no questions posed by Deputy Atty. Gen. Michael Katz. But Alvarez did not offer any explanation of how--or why--the crime occurred.

Attorney James M. Farley said his client may make a statement at a March 30 sentencing hearing.

“From the very beginning, David had always said he would admit that which he had done,” Farley said. “He is remorseful. She lost her life at his hands and he deserves to forfeit his life--and that in essence is what he is doing by his plea.”

Alvarez is looking at 25 years to life in prison when sentenced next month. He faced a possible life sentence without hope of parole if the case had gone to trial because of an allegation that he tried to rape Manley.

But state prosecutors agreed to strike the allegation and other charges in exchange for the guilty plea to murder.

The attorney general’s office took over the case at the request of Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, who bowed out because of his friendship with the defendant’s parents.

Bradbury, whose office rarely enters into plea agreements in serious felony cases, could not be reached for comment Friday. Katz said he notified the D.A.’s office prior to settling the case, but didn’t receive a response and was not expecting one.

Although charges were eliminated, Farley and Katz both said after Friday’s hearing that given the circumstances of the case they doubt Alvarez will ever be paroled.

“The chances for parole are very, very slim,” Farley said. “They just don’t let people out who have committed murder one.”

Katz said his office accepted the plea offer based on a belief that Alvarez will never get out of prison.

“We believe today that we have achieved justice for the victim’s family, punishment for the defendant and protection for society,” Katz said.

Katz said a new law passed in 1998 requires that murderers in first-degree cases serve the entire minimum sentence--not a percentage of prison time as permitted with other crimes.

That means Alvarez, who will get credit for the year he has spent in County Jail, won’t face a parole board for 24 years, when he will be 47.

Alvarez, whose parents own a chain of restaurants, was raised in the Ojai Valley. He attended private schools and rode horses.

He also had a reputation for liking younger girls--and a criminal record for battering his mother-in-law and resisting arrest.

Alvarez was arrested in August 1998 on suspicion of assaulting his then 19-year-old wife, Brooke. In court papers, she said Alvarez shoved her face into a bathroom mirror when she refused to have sex.

The charges were later dropped, and the couple have since separated. They have a 4-year-old son, also named David.

It was just four months after that alleged battery when Alvarez picked up Kali Manley from her girlfriend’s house in Ojai. According to court testimony, the two had never met.

But when Alvarez--described in court testimony by his ex-girlfriends as charming--arrived at the front door to visit Manley’s friend, Ashley, Manley walked outside with him and never came back.

Alvarez’s friend, Robert Miears, later told police that Manley drove with them to a nearby convenience store where they bought a four-pack of wine coolers and retired to a trailer owned by Alvarez’s family.

Once there, he said, Alvarez and Manley began drinking. Miears told detectives Alvarez and Manley later went into a master bedroom together. Miears said he awoke the next morning and found the two were gone.

One week later, after a community-wide search, Alvarez led authorities to a large drainage pipe cutting beneath a mountain road about 40 miles above Ojai.

Inside, investigators found the girl’s naked body. She had been strangled.

Manley’s parents declined to comment on the plea agreement. Reached at home, Holly Manley said they were saving their remarks for the upcoming sentencing hearing.

Paul Bergmann, pastor of Ojai Valley Community Church, said Charles and Holly Manley probably feel some relief that there won’t be a trial, but that their healing isn’t done.

“I don’t think anybody can understand where the Manley family is emotionally,” said Bergmann, who led Kali’s funeral service in December. “To what degree this promotes healing in their hearts, only they could say.”

Bergmann said his thoughts and prayers are with both the Manley and Alvarez families.

Eugene and Marie Alvarez attend services at the church regularly.

“It’s been a difficult time in their lives as well,” he said. “I am committed to praying for both families.”