Serial Rapist Was Apologetic Toward Victim, Detective Says
Simi Valley serial rapist Vincent Sanchez “cuddled” one of his victims and apologized for abducting her from a Woodland Hills neighborhood and raping her at his Simi Valley home, a detective testified Friday.
After the assault July 10, 2001, Sanchez, 31, drove the victim back to the Topanga Canyon Boulevard area where he kidnapped her. He gave her a sweater to stay warm and asked for a kiss goodbye.
The testimony was elicited by defense lawyers who have tried to show at a preliminary hearing this week in Ventura County Superior Court that Sanchez was calm and polite during attacks on numerous women during the past five years.
However, detectives have also testified that Sanchez used knives and handguns to subdue his victims and threatened to kill their family members.
Sanchez has pleaded guilty to 61 criminal counts in connection with those assaults. But he has denied charges that he killed 20-year-old Moorpark student Megan Barroso during a rape attempt last summer.
The hearing is to decide whether prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed to trial on the murder charge and seek the death penalty.
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