Buena Park Woman Guilty in Death of Her Brother

A Buena Park woman was convicted Friday of first-degree murder in the kidnapping and death of her brother, whom she believed was stealing from the family business he was about to take over, prosecutors said.

Deborah Perna, 49, faces the possibility of life in state prison without parole when she is sentenced Dec. 9.

“It is hard to believe anyone would be as callous as to want her own flesh and blood murdered for money,” Senior Deputy District Atty. Dan Wagner said in a statement.

According to Wagner, Perna -- who was the office manager for the Rancho Dominguez business in which she and her brother, David Montemayor, 44, worked -- asked her secretary to request a friend to kill Montemayor in exchange for several thousand dollars she believed he had in his home. The friend recruited three members of his gang, who kidnapped the married father of three from the business Oct. 2, 2002, prosecutors said.

En route with the kidnappers to his home in Buena Park to get the money, prosecutors said, Montemayor was shot in the head and killed after escaping from the car. The four have been charged but not yet tried.