Convicted double-murderer gets two life prison terms

LOS ANGELES (CNS) — A man who was convicted of murdering his on-again, off-again girlfriend in East Los Angeles and a man in Whittier in crimes that occurred just over a decade apart was sentenced, Friday, to two consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole.

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler told Jose “Joe” Luis Saenz, that he was as “cold-blooded” a killer as he had ever come across in four decades on the bench and 10 years as a defense attorney.

The judge cited the brutality of the Aug. 5, 1998, killing of Sigreda Fernandez, the mother of the defendant’s young daughter, along with the Oct. 5, 2008, killing of Oscar Torres in a crime that was caught on video.

“You have no soul,” the judge told the 47-year-old defendant.

Saenz — who repeatedly interrupted the judge throughout the hearing — told the judge, “I’m innocent.”

“For the record, you’re not innocent,” Fidler quickly retorted, calling the evidence against Saenz “overwhelming.”

Saenz was convicted, last September, of two counts of first-degree murder, as well as one count each of kidnapping, forcible rape and sodomy by use of force involving Fernandez and one count of attempted murder involving a man who was wounded in the shooting that left Torres dead.

The jury found true the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder during the commission of a kidnapping, rape or sodomy involving Fernandez.

Jurors deadlocked on two additional murder charges against Saenz — an alleged gang member — involving the July 25, 1998, killings of rival gang members Josue Hernandez and Leonardo Ponce.