*CRIMINAL CASE UPDATE*

"DIABLO" GETS 99 YEARS TO LIFE FOR KIDNAPPING, TORTURE, MURDER

INDIO - Cesar Ardas Santamariamuniz, 21, was sentenced on Monday, August 3, 2009, to 99 years and 4 months to life in state prison for the January 2007 murder of Jordan Dane "JD" Ketchersid, as well for crimes of torture, kidnapping, robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon.

Around July 2006, Santamariamuniz, a drug dealer known as "Diablo", accused a young woman of stealing a box of drugs, cash and guns. Although the woman had not stolen the box, Santamariamuniz became obsessed with locating it and wouldn't allow her to leave his Palm Springs apartment for about three months. He tied her up, used zip ties to bind her hands, threatened to kill her, used a noose to torture her, and used a padlock to imprison her in his bedroom when he would leave. In October 2006, the young woman escaped from Santamariamuniz's apartment by jumping from a second-story window.

After her escape, Santamariamuniz refocused his obsession on finding the young woman who he believed was the link to his drugs, cash and guns. He told friends that he was willing to kill to find her. Santamariamuniz unsuccessfully interrogated many people as to the whereabouts of the young woman. In some situations, he beat his victims with guns, shoved loaded guns in their mouths, used duct tape or zip ties to bind them to chairs, or threatened to cut them with a circular saw if they didn't reveal the young woman's whereabouts.

Ultimately, Santamariamuniz believed that the victim, JD, was hiding the young woman so he called JD and arranged a meeting. The last person to ever contact JD on his cell phone before he was killed was Santamariamuniz. On January 2, 2007, Santamariamuniz shot JD in the chest and later bragged to a friend that JD had been killed and that it has been done "professionally."

The case, INF058507, was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Antonio Fimbres.

"This man has irreparably harmed the lives of so many people and our community is safer now that he will spend the rest of his life in prison," said Fimbres. "This is a just sentence for a man who terrorized, tortured, kidnapped and killed."