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OCDASeal

Orange County District Attorney
Press Release

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Tony Rackauckas, District Attorney
401 Civic Center Drive West
Santa Ana, CA 92701

For Immediate Release
August 28, 2006
Contact:

Susan Schroeder
Public Affairs Counsel
(714) 347-8408 Office
(714) 323-4486 Cell

ORANGE WOMAN FOUND GUILTY OF MURDERING HER EX-BOYFRIEND, EL MODENA HIGH WRESTLER

SANTA ANA – An Orange woman charged with murdering her 17-year-old ex-boyfriend was convicted today of first degree murder.  Veronica Paz, 24, a grocery clerk in Orange, faces 25 years to life in prison.   Sentencing is scheduled for December 1, 2006.

Paz was convicted of arranging the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Diego Gonzalez, with her then-boyfriend Brandan Perry, 22, of Garden Grove.  Gonzalez was a 17-year-old CIF wrestler at El Modena High School.  On the night of November 9, 2003, Paz lured Gonzalez to a look-out point in an unincorporated part of Orange with the promise of a sexual encounter.  Paz arranged for Perry to be waiting with a gun at the location.  She arrived early in the morning of November 10, 2006, and watched as Perry pulled Gonzalez from the car and executed him by shooting him twice in the head. 

Paz and Perry then met with a juvenile accomplice and attempted to get rid of the evidence by burning the victim’s body, first with lighter fluid and then with diesel fuel.  The next day Paz met with Perry, Albert Medina, 23, of Santa Ana, Kimberly Gomez, 23, of Orange, and the juvenile, and developed a plot to cover up the murder by coordinating stories in order to provide Perry and Paz with an alibi.    

Perry plead guilty to first degree murder on March 28, 2006, and faces a sentence of 25 years to life. Gomez and Medina plead guilty to being an accessory to murder after the fact and are awaiting sentencing. Perry, Medina, and Gomez testified as to what they knew about the facts of the Paz case. 

Senior Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.

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