A man who killed and dismembered his live-in boyfriend, whose head and some body parts were found in Griffith Park, was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life in prison by a judge who said she still wondered why the defendant did it.
Before sentencing 40-year-old Gabriel Campos-Martinez, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Katherine Mader said she wished he would tell the victim's family and friends why he killed 66-year-old Hervey Medellin.
"We never really learned why," Mader said. "It has always been a question in my mind."
Campos-Martinez earlier declined to make a statement after listening to Medellin's niece and three friends talk about the man they had lost.
Monday would have been her uncle's 70th birthday, Christina Medellin Serrano told the court.
"We miss his voice, we miss his laughter and, most of all, we miss his presence," Serrano said.
Amelia De Vivar said "the horrible demise of my friend, Hervey Medellin, has made this world a darker, colder place."
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The judge told Campos-Martinez that relatives and friends were at a loss because the crime was "so inexplicable, so evil, so depraved," especially given that the victim "was providing everything for you."
The victim's head was found Jan. 17, 2012, in Griffith Park by a dog with some hikers. Medellin's hands and feet were found a day later.
Campos-Martinez and Medellin had lived together for about six months in the victim's Hollywood apartment after meeting while hiking in March 2011 in Griffith Park -- the same park where some of the body parts were later discovered.
Medellin's niece told the court that the family had no sympathy for the defendant.
"I personally would never want him to see the light of day," Serrano said.
When the coroner first called to tell her about her uncle's remains, Serrano said she couldn't imagine “who could commit this inhuman act of slaughter."
"You only hear something like this on the news," she said.
Serrano's father has Alzheimer's disease and she hasn't had the heart to tell him about his brother's killing, she said, breaking down in tears while recalling the excuses she has to make for why he hasn't called.
The judge imposed the maximum possible sentence for the first-degree murder conviction.
Anticipating that sentence, another friend, Natalie Curie, said, "We're finally at ease in a way that Hervey will finally get the peace that he deserves."
Prosecutors said Medellin was likely killed in late December 2011, and died from asphyxiation, although the defense contended that the cause of death should have been listed as undetermined.
Deputy District Attorney Bobby Grace told jurors that the "defendant committed a gruesome, callous murder upon somebody who showed him love, gave him shelter, gave him money ... This wasn't a sudden thing that happened. This was a planned murder."
He said computers seized from the residence showed that someone had referenced an article on Dec. 27, 2011, about how to dismember a body, and that the killer "went well out of their way to dismember Medellin's body."
"The killer did not want Mr. Medellin to be found," Grace told the jury.
Medellin's head was discovered a day after Los Angeles police went to the apartment to inquire about Medellin's whereabouts, the prosecutor noted.
The motive may have been a "money grab" with Medellin's Social
Security check being transferred from one banking institution to another where Campos-Martinez had access to the money, or he may have felt like he was being pushed out of Medellin's life, the prosecutor told jurors.
Defense attorney Rodolfo Navarro had urged jurors to acquit his client, questioning whether the prosecution had proven its case -- which he said was made up of ``theories'' -- beyond a reasonable doubt.
"Theories do not equal proof," he said.
Campos-Martinez's attorney said there was no evidence that his client had looked at the article on dismemberment, and noted "not a single drop of blood" was found at the apartment.
Medellin's torso was never found, although a DNA profile from tissue specimens found in March 2014 in the mouth of Bronson Canyon Cave -- the so- called ``bat cave'' shown in the 1960s "Batman" television series – matched the victim's DNA profile. The cave is less than a mile away from where the other remains were found, according to the prosecutor.
Campos-Martinez was arrested in Texas in March 2014 following a lengthy investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.
