On July 14, 1981, victim Paula Joy Pleshe was found stabbed to death in the carport area of her condo complex in the city of Cypress.  There was no evidence of robbery or assault. The unidentified stabber appeared to have been lying in wait. The police suspected the victim’s husband, Gerald Pleshe, was responsible for his wife’s death although they could not obtain sufficient evidence.  For many years the case remained unsolved.

Defendant Gerald Pleshe was an unfaithful husband who was having an affair with co-defendant Candice Restivo.  In order to spend more time with each other, Pleshe and Restivo decided to kill the victim.  On behalf of defendant Pleshe, Restivo spoke with a co-worker, Mike Ochoa, and asked him if he would kill the victim. Co-defendant Ochoa declined to kill the victim but offered to find another person who would. Restivo drove defendant Pleshe to meet the would-be killers who were referred by Ochoa.  They provided the would-be killers with the victim’s address, a wedding photo of the victim, and a $500-$1000 payment to carry out the murder.  On the day before the murder, the would-be killers were arrested on unrelated charges.  Nonetheless, as planned, the victim was killed by an unknown assailant.

Pleshe, Ochoa, and Restivo were eventually convicted and sentenced for first degree murder with special circumstances for murder for financial gain and murder by means of lying in wait.  They have all been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.