Wife guilty of assisting in murder of 2 deputies
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Jurors found a Utah woman guilty of murder Thursday for aiding her husband as he killed two Northern California sheriff’s deputies in 2014.
The Sacramento County jury convicted Janelle Monroy Thursday of 10 charges including murder, attempted murder and carjacking, attempted carjacking and possessing an assault rifle. They rejected her argument that she feared Luis Bracamontes would have killed her if she didn’t help him.
She faces a possible life sentence when she is sentenced March 23.
Prosecutors said she willingly moved his assault-style rifle from vehicle to stolen vehicle after he killed Sacramento County Deputy Danny Oliver and before he killed Placer County Detective Michael Davis Jr. hours later.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Bracamontes after he was convicted by a separate jury.
He is a Mexican citizen who repeatedly entered the United States illegally. His case has been cited by President Donald Trump to illustrate problems with the nation’s immigration policy. She is a U.S. citizen.
The deputies were killed shortly after the couple arrived in Sacramento during what Monroy said was a road trip driven by Bracamontes’ drug-infused paranoia.
He has repeatedly blurted out in court that he killed the deputies and wished he had killed more.