Marquez Pleads Guilty in Headless Murder Case
Written by Andrew-Rossi on May 17, 2017
The final defendant in Park County’s Headless Corpse case has pled guilty.
John Louis Marquez yesterday changed his plea in the shooting death of Juan Antonio Guerra-Torres. Torres’ headless body was found on a remote road near Clark in 2015, and prosecuters allege that Marquez was hired to kill Torres by the victim’s girlfriend, Sandra Garcia, and was assisted by her brother, Pedro Garcia.
Marquez was charged with first degree murder, and the death penalty was an option had he been convicted.
Both Sandra and Pedro pled guilty to charges of second degree murder. According to court records, Sandra Garcia had asked her brother to hire someone to kill her boyfriend, because he owed people in Mexico money and she feared for her and the lives of their five children.
According to KULR-8 Reporter Penny Preston, who attended the hearing, Marquez told District Court Judge Steven Cranfill that he believed his family was in danger, acknowledging that what he did was wrong. Judge Cranfill sentenced Marquez to 25 to 35 years in prison.
