Man Charged in Slaying of College Student
An April 8 preliminary hearing date has been set for murder suspect Vincent Sanchez in the slaying of Moorpark College student Megan Barroso last July.
Sanchez, a 31-year-old Simi Valley handyman, was charged Friday in Ventura County Superior Court with murder, attempted rape, kidnapping and related allegations that allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty. At an arraignment Friday, Sanchez pleaded not guilty to those counts, as well as to charges that he assaulted several other women during the past four years.
A grand jury indicted Sanchez on those charges in September, but the indictment was set aside this month by a Santa Barbara judge who found there were not enough women on the grand jury. Ventura County prosecutors are not appealing the decision.
Sanchez has already pleaded guilty to 61 felony counts involving rapes of seven women and assaults on three others between 1996 and 2001.
Sentencing for those crimes will occur after the murder case.
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