NORWALK- Leon Andrew Martinez, 44, received a 28 years to life prison term after being convicted in March 2015 for the murder-for-hire of a woman at Creek Park on July 23, 1992 City News Service first reported.The sentence was handed down by Judge Robert Higa at Norwalk Superior Court today.
Martinez was hired by Morrad Ghonim, 44, to kill his 17 year-old wife, Victoria Ghonim to stage a robbery gone bad while the couple sat in their car in the park parking lot with their one-year old son.
A Sheriff's criminalist in the Scientific Services Bureau DNA section re-examined evidence in 2009 gathered from the crime scene and came up with a match on Martinez.
It wasn't until after the arrest of Martinez that detectives learned of the plot.
Detectives were able to locate Ghonim after more than four years remarried and living on the Caribbean island of Aruba. He was extradited back to Los Angeles County in May 2015, several weeks after Martinez had already been convicted for being the trigger man.
Martinez ultimately received a lighter sentence after agreeing to testify against
Ghonim,
Despite his claims of innocence Ghonim was found guilty of his involvement in November 2016 by a jury that heard Ghonim's second wife corroborate some of Martinez's testimony. Ghonim received a life sentence without parole.
More: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Hired-Hitman-Sentenced-to-28-Years-to-Life-Behind-Bars-in-2-Decade-Old-Murders-423710814.html
Excellent coverage from Ruby Gonzalez of Southern California News Group http://www.whittierdailynews.com/general-news/20170522/hit-man-gets-28-years-to-life-for-killing-la-mirada-mother-in-1992?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
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