Release Date: January 11, 2008

Contact:    Stacy Ratner, Senior Deputy District Attorney

(805) 654-5175

District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that Daniel Damien Martinez (DOB 10/17/84) of Oxnard, was sentenced by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Rebecca Riley to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional six years for the attempted rape and murder of 25-year-old Lorena Gonzalez of Oxnard, the assault on 30-year-old Alfred Leon of Ventura, and the premeditated attempted murder of 25-year-old Luis Rios of Santa Paula.

In the early morning hours of May 25, 2005, the defendant attempted to rape Ms. Gonzalez in the alley east of the 2700 block of Acacia Street in Oxnard . The defendant killed her by means of strangulation by ligature. Ms. Gonzalez's body was discovered by a passerby at approximately 5:20 a.m. that morning. Emergency personnel determined that she was deceased at the scene.

Later that day, the defendant assaulted Alfred Leon in Ventura . He struck Mr. Leon in the head with a beer bottle in an unprovoked attack, and caused him to suffer great bodily injury. The defendant was arrested and booked into the Ventura County jail.

In the early morning hours of May 26, 2005, while housed at the jail, the defendant attempted to murder Luis Rios, who shared his booking cell, by strangling him with his shoelace.

The defendant was convicted of all charges by a jury on October 22, 2007. On November 1, 2007, the same jury found that the defendant was legally sane at the time that he committed these crimes.