Slaying suspects had ‘sex dungeon,’ search warrants show

SAN DIEGO — The three people accused of killing a 22-year-old Marine wifewere engaged in a sadistic sexual lifestyle that may be linked to her death, according to court documents released Wednesday.

Detectives believe two of the defendants, a Marine and his girlfriend, may have sexually accosted Brittany Dawn Killgore before killing her, according to one document.

Four search warrants, ordered released by an appeals court over the objections of the district attorney’s office, provide an inside look at the unusual relationship involving Staff Sgt. Louis Perez, 45; Jessica Lopez, 25; and Dorothy Maraglino, 36, all charged with murder in connection with Killgore’s slaying.

The three shared a house in Fallbrook in northern San Diego County where detectives believe Killgore may have been killed either April 13 or April 14. Her body was found days later near Lake Skinner in Riverside County.

Perez, Lopez and Maraglino routinely engaged in sex play that included bondage, punishment, masks, whips, spanking, cutting, a “sex dungeon,” an unspecified “sex apparatus” and role-playing of slave, servant and master, according to one document.

“Because of Perez and Maraglino’s unusual sex fetishes, I believe they may have accosted Killgore for these reasons,” one San Diego County Sheriff’s Department detective wrote in a sworn affidavit accompanying a search warrant.

The search warrants include an assertion that an unidentified woman was once held hostage in the “sex dungeon” until she submitted.

On April 13, Killgore agreed to accompany Perez to San Diego for a dinner cruise, according to the documents.

Within 13 minutes of Perez picking her up at her residence, Killgore texted a friend: “Help.”Unable to get a response from Killgore, the friend texted back: “Brittany, Are U OK? I am freaking out here.”

Perez sent back texts via Killgore’s phone indicating that nothing was amiss, according to the search warrants.

Perez was the first of the three to be arrested. Detectives found a stun gun and gloves with blood that matched Killgore in his truck.

Perez told detectives that he had taken Killgore to the Whiskey Girl Club in the Gaslamp District in San Diego but that the two had become separated, according to a detective. Investigators believe Perez and Killgore never left Fallbrook.

Lopez was arrested at a San Diego motel where she had been drinking heavily and had attempted suicide. In a profanity-laced seven-page note addressed “PIGS READ THIS,” she claimed to have killed Killgore out of jealousy and dumped her body “in almost plain sight.”

In the note, Lopez referred to Perez as “Master” and Maraglino as “Mistress.” Lopez was Perez’s former girlfriend; Maraglino was his current girlfriend, according to detectives.

Killgore’s body showed signs of strangulation and attempts at dismemberment, as Lopez’s note suggested, according to one search warrant. The documents were released at the request of several news organizations.

Perez, Lopez and Maraglino have pleaded not guilty. All remain in county jail on $3-million bail each. Killgore’s husband returned from Afghanistan on emergency leave after the killing.

tony.perry@latimes.com