Brothers Convicted In '86 Rape, Murder Case
POSTED: 5:09 pm PDT July 23, 2010
UPDATED: 5:13 pm PDT July 23, 2010
SAN DIEGO -- Two Riverside County brothers were convicted of first-degree murder Friday in the 1986 slaying of a San Diego woman who was raped, robbed and killed in a remote section of Balboa Park.Eddie Lopez Montanez, who faces 25 years to life in state prison when he is sentenced Sept. 3, lowered his head, took off his glasses and wiped away tears as Judge John Einhorn read the verdicts.The 48-year-old defendant's older brother was convicted Wednesday by a separate jury of raping, robbing and murdering 36-year-old Delores "Dodie" Attig, but the judge had kept those verdicts sealed until Friday.Steve Montanez, 52, will be sentenced to life in prison without parole on Sept. 7.The victim's daughter, Jennifer Lopez, said she felt "happiness but sadness" at the verdicts. "I never thought they would actually find the people (who did this)."Lopez, who was 6 when her mother was murdered, told reporters she wanted to keep her feelings about the defendants to herself."It was bad what happened," Lopez said outside court. "I wouldn't want to speak to them."Deputy District Attorney Jill Schall said the brothers, along with the older sibling's teenage stepson and another man, raped the victim before Steve Montanez shot her once in the head about 3 a.m. on June 19, 1986.Schall said the Montanez brothers, 15-year-old Eddie Cabanyog and Richard Archuletta traveled from Coachella to Balboa Park, and targeted Attig and two male friends who were in the park drinking, smoking and listening to music.The male victims were thrown face-down on the ground and tied up, and Attig was dragged from a car, gang-raped and killed, the prosecutor said.DNA taken from the victim was saved, and subsequent advances in DNA allowed authorities to enter the information into California's DNA system in 2006 and a "hit" was made, identifying Archuletta as a suspect, the prosecutor said.DNA was found on Steve Montanez, Cabanyog and Archuletta, but not Eddie Montanez, the prosecutor said.He testified that he was scared of his older brother, so stripped down to his underwear and faked having sex with the victim.Jeff Martin, Steve Montanez's attorney, said the prosecution had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. He also urged the jury to disregard the testimony of Michael Stanton, one of the men who was robbed that night.The attorney said Stanton was a "big doper" and "drunk" and changed his version of events a number of times.The attorney said the DNA evidence in the case was "all messed up," with mislabelings and other errors.Martin also accused Eddie Montanez of trying to "weasel" out of being held accountable, saying he had a motive to lie.Archuletta was convicted of Attig's murder and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.Cabanyog admitted all charges in Juvenile Court, was released from Juvenile Hall and was later convicted of carjacking and sentenced to eight years in prison.Steve Montanez was convicted of first-degree murder, and jurors found true special circumstance allegations that the murder happened during the course of a rape, robbery and oral copulation.Jurors did not find those special circumstances true against Eddie Montanez.
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