Rape Suspect Arrested in Woman’s Death

A man accused of being a serial rapist who has terrorized Simi Valley for five years was rearrested Monday on suspicion of killing Megan Barroso, a 20-year-old Moorpark College student.

Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks said Vincent Henry Sanchez, 30, has been linked to the killing by an AK-47 assault rifle, a woman’s jacket found in his home and other evidence recovered in his truck.

At a packed news conference outside the main jail in Ventura, where Sanchez is being held without bail in the rape cases, Brooks praised the 30 deputies, 150 volunteers and seven crime lab scientists who worked on the case. But he also talked of the Barroso family’s trauma.

“An arrest can bring justice, but it can’t do anything to replace the loss,” Brooks said. “Our hearts go out to the Barroso family.”

Barroso’s bullet-riddled car was found last month a mile from her home, and her body was later found in a ravine. Brooks refused to say if Barroso had been raped.

Sanchez was in custody when he was rearrested. He has not yet been charged with murder, but an arraignment is scheduled in Superior Court on Wednesday

Sanchez was arrested last month on charges of sexually assaulting at least 11 Simi Valley women. He has pleaded not guilty to 57 counts of sexual assault, kidnapping and burglary.

Barroso was last seen the morning of July 5 leaving a friend’s house in Thousand Oaks. A private security guard found her battered, shot-up car, still running, crashed on a road median about 4 a.m.

Blood was found inside the car, and assault rifle casings, part of an assault rifle and Barroso’s shoes were found at the scene. Barroso, though, was gone.

After a massive search by law enforcement personnel and volunteers, her body was discovered Aug. 4 in the Black Canyon area southeast of Simi Valley. The cause of death was an assault rifle shot to the stomach.

She had been dumped half-clothed into a ravine 50 feet beneath the road and covered with brush.

Sheriff’s deputies were led to Sanchez as a possible suspect after he was arrested July 27 on suspicion of burglarizing a neighbor’s home on Woodrow Avenue in Simi Valley.

Before Sanchez’s arrest, the neighbor told some of Sanchez’s roommates that someone had stolen items from his house, including a shower head and a wooden tissue box cover.

When two of the roommates searched Sanchez’s bedroom, they discovered several of the missing items and called police.

While in custody, Sanchez called one of his housemates and asked him to destroy a bag he had placed in the trash. Inside the bag, the roommate found photographs and videos of naked women bound and gagged.

One video showed a man wearing a ski mask, gloves and black clothing and a naked woman whose leg appeared to be bleeding. Police also found newspaper clippings about the sexual assaults and some women’s garments.

Times staff writer Margaret Talev contributed to this story.