• Trio lured Marine wife to her death, prosecutors say

    NBC San Diego

    Dorothy Grace Marie Maraglino, 36, appeared in a Vista courtroom to face a murder charge for allegedly aiding and abetting in Brittany Killgore's murder, prosecutors charged.

    By NBCSanDiego.com

    Prosecutors say a trio of defendants lured a North County, Calif., Marine wife to go on a dinner cruise but had different plans for her in the hours before her death.

    New details were revealed in court Tuesday about what may have happened to Brittany Killgore, the 22-year-old Fallbrook resident who was last seen alive on April 13, wearing a purple evening gown.

    Dorothy Grace Marie Maraglino, 36, appeared in court to face a murder charge for allegedly aiding and abetting in Killgore's murder, prosecutors charged. She stood quietly in court staring at the ground with half her face covered by hair.

    Maraglino is pregnant, according to a law enforcement source, who added that she is due in August.

    Brittany Dawn Killgore

    Her alleged co-conspirators, Jessica Lynn Lopez, 25, and U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Perez, 45, have pleaded not guilty to murder in previous court appearances.

    Deputy District Attorney Patrick Espinoza said Maraglino was involved in every part of the crime, from the planning to the execution.

    Read original story on NBCSanDiego.com

    Killgore's body was found abandoned on the side of the road on April 17, four days after she was reported missing. The last communication anyone received from Killgore was a text on April 13 that read "help."

    Prosecutors said Maraglino called Killgore April 13 to convince her to go on a boat cruise, but it was just a ruse.

    Killgore did not want to go with Maraglino, prosecutors said, because she knew the defendant didn't like her.

    However, Killgore agreed to go with Perez and got in the car with him. It was during that ride, prosecutors claim, that Killgore texted the word "help" to a friend.

    Within minutes, according to investigators, Perez had texted Maraglino, asking her to meet him at a home she owned. Maraglino bought the home in December 2009, according to the North County Times. At some point, she shared the home with Lopez and Perez.

    Investigators searched the residence several times in the days after Killgore's body was discovered, taking photos, removing evidence bags and even watching video tapes, according to neighbors.

    Click here for timeline from NBCSanDiego.com: Brittany Killgore case

    At a hearing last month, a prosecutor said investigators found Killgore’s blood and a weapon in Perez's car.

    An incriminating note?
    Authorities said Killgore's body was discovered in brush near Lake Skinner, only hours after paramedics were called to a San Diego motel and found another woman -- who turned out to be Jessica Lynn Lopez -- with self-inflicted cuts and a suicide note.

    The suicide note reportedly refers to Maraglino as "Mistress" and Lopez as "Master." The San Diego Union Tribune published a report saying its staff had a copy of the handwritten note along with reaction from Lopez' attorney Sloan Ostbye, who said the contents of the letter should not be believed.

    “Master I am so sorry I dragged you into this,” the letter reads. “I thought I was defending the family and it would be simple like Dexter.”

    "Dexter" likely refers to the television show "Dexter," which depicts a serial killer.

    Lopez admits in the letter to binding and strangling Killgore, and then dumping her body near Lake Skinner.

    The prosecutor said Lopez and Perez once lived together but didn't indicate when or where. Lopez currently lives a mile from Killgore's second-floor apartment overlooking Camp Pendleton.

    Maraglino and Perez practiced sadomasochism and bondage, according to online profiles posted by the two, reported The San Diego Union Tribune. Maraglino is described online as Perez's "sex slave," said the paper.

    Perez has lived in San Diego County for 10 years and has a wife there.

    Authorities have revealed no link between Killgore and the sadomasochistic lifestyle, said the Tribune. She was "an innocent victim," Espinoza told the court.

    Homicide detectives said Maraglino’s arrest – the third in Killgore’s case – was made as a result of information and evidence obtained throughout the ongoing investigation.

    The judge set bail for her at $3 million.

    Killgore recently separated from Marine Lance Cpl. Cory Killgore, who was in Afghanistan when she disappeared. She cited irreconcilable differences in her divorce filing but gave no other details.

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  • Woman pleads not guilty in Marine wife's slaying, held on $3 million bail

    By NBCSanDiego.com and msnbc.com staff

    San Diego County Sheriff via AP

    Brittany Dawn Killgore, whose body was identified Wednesday.

    Updated at 6:15 p.m. EDT: SAN DIEGO -- A 25-year-old woman charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of a Camp Pendleton Marine's wife pleaded not guilty Thursday and was ordered to remain jailed in lieu of $3 million bail.

    Jessica Lynn Lopez was arraigned Thursday at San Diego County’s Vista Superior Court on charges involving what prosecutors called “homicidal violence” against Brittany Dawn Killgore, the San Diego Union Tribune reported.


    Also Thursday afternoon, Killgore's father, Darryl Wrest, who lives in Pennsylvania, read an emotional statement at the San Diego County Sheriff's headquarters in Kearny Mesa, the North County Times reported.

    "I am here to speak for Brittany, as her voice was taken from her,” Wrest said. "Brittney was a victim, she did nothing wrong," Wrest said. "There have been stories and comments made from people who do not know my daughter and have their own agendas or opinions. These stories have absolutely no basis in fact. Please leave my daughter in peace, she does not deserve to be a victim of lies and innuendo any more than she deserved to be murdered.”

    Lopez was arrested Tuesday, hours before Killgore’s body was found in a remote area of neighboring Riverside County.

    Authorities found Lopez in a Loma Linda motel room with self-inflicted cuts. Prosecutors said Lopez had left a suicide note that led investigators to Killgore’s body.

    Earlier Thursday, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said at a news conference that Lopez could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.

    Dumanis refused to discuss facts or evidence in what she called the "ongoing case."

    She said another Marine, Louis Ray Perez, 45, was arraigned Wednesday on a separate stolen weapons charge and remains a person of interest in the Killgore killing. Additional charges are possible, she said.

    "This case has shaken many in San Diego County and the military community," she said.

    Dumanis said answers about the killing will come as the case makes its way through the criminal justice system.

    Killgore was reported missing Saturday. Her body was found in a rural part of neighboring Riverside County.

    Her husband, Cory Killgore, is based at Camp Pendleton but has been deployed to Afghanistan.

    San Diego officials announce that murder charges have been filed against Jessica Lynn Lopez, and that two others have been arrested in connection with the death of Brittany Killgore.

    Earlier story: Coroner says body of woman is that of Brittany Killgore, missing wife of Marine

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