VISTA, Calif.—A man who killed his estranged wife and her sister in Escondido was sentenced Jan. 23 to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 26 years to life in state prison.
Juan Carlos Ortega, 38, was convicted by a Vista jury last month of first-degree murder for the August 2018 deaths of 30-year-old Veronica Soto Ortega and 26-year-old Ana Soto. Both victims’ bodies were discovered miles apart from each other on Aug. 9, 2018.
Prosecutors said Ortega killed the women at his wife’s apartment just after 3 a.m. Both women were stabbed, while Soto was also shot.
At trial, Ortega’s defense attorney did not deny that his client killed the women, but alleged he did so in self-defense after Soto put a knife to his throat, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported….