Two men arrested for allegedly beating and sexually assaulting a 64-year-old Santa Maria woman who died eight days later will be charged with first-degree murder, but a decision about whether they will face the death penalty will be made later.
Santa Maria Police Chief Ralph Martin and Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley held a press conference Friday afternoon about the “brutal and vicious attack” on Marilyn Pharis, an Air Force veteran who worked the night shift as a civilian contractor at a Vandenberg Air Force Base satellite tracking facility.
She held the job for more than 40 years after serving four years in the military.
The case has drawn national attention since one of the suspects is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico with a prior criminal history, leading the police chief to declare a “blood trail” leads from policymakers into the bedroom where Pharis was attacked.
In addition to Undersheriff Barney Melekian, a number of police officers, prosecutors and city officials attended the press conference, along with a pair of deputy public defenders.
Victor Aureliano Martinez Ramirez (initially identified by police as Victor Aureliano Martinez), 29, and Jose Villagomez, 20, of Santa Maria were arrested separately following the July 24 attack on Pharis in her home in the 900 block of North Dejoy Street.
She died eight days later in the hospital.
Ramirez, an undocumented immigrant with a prior history of arrests, was taken into custody July 25, while Villagomez was arrested on a probation violation and later connected to the attack.
The chief said an autopsy, which the district attorney observed, confirmed Pharis died from her massive injuries.
“As a result of the evidence thus far, I have charged the defendants with murder,” Dudley added.
Specifically, they are charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances of burglary, mayhem and rape during a felony murder. Ramirez has an additional special circumstance of torture plus an allegation of use of a deadly weapon. A second count filed against Ramirez is for first-degree burglary.
“These charges carry the possibility of the death penalty or life without possibility of parole,” Dudley said. “It is too soon in our process for me to make a decision about whether this will be a death penalty case, but the way it is filed now, there is the option — two options, life without the possibility of parole or death.”
Dudley said she will make the determination after consulting with police, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the victim’s family.
Martin said the two suspects broke into Pharis’ home at 9:45 a.m. July 24 while she was sleeping, sexually assaulted her, strangled her, and then beat her on the face and head with a hammer.
“Despite this incredible beating, Marilyn would not give up,” Martin said. “She fought back with all the strength that she could possibly muster, even while receiving repeated blows with the hammer.
“The suspects left her for dead, but somehow, with her eye sockets shattered from the beating she suffered, including a broken neck bone, she called 911.”
After leaving the Dejoy residence, Ramirez allegedly broke into another home on West Donovan Road, where he encountered three children and a mother, who was able to call 911.
He fled the house, jumping over backyard fences, and within minutes a police dog found Ramirez hiding under a tarp on a patio at a house on Cox Lane.
Santa Maria police have arrested Ramirez six times in 15 months, the chief said.
In what he called a national issue involving immigration policies, the chief noted the several changes that have led to releases of criminals earlier than previous. They included AB 109, which aimed at reducing overcrowding in state prisons by transferring some offenders to county jails or setting them free early.
Proposition 47 reduced some nonserious and nonviolent property and drug crimes” from a felony to a misdemeanor and led to resentencing.
“I am not remiss to say that from Washington D.C. to Sacramento, there is a blood trail into the bedroom of Marilyn Pharis,” Martin said.
Two weeks before the attack, Ramirez had been arrested for suspicion of possessing methamphetamine.
“You know what we had to do? We had to cite him out,” Martin said. “That’s the problem with the system. This is not just in Santa Maria. This is all over the state of California and all over the United States.”
Finger-pointing among agencies doesn’t get to the root of the problem — immigration policies set at the state and national levels, the chief said.
County law enforcement officials say the defendant could not be held in jail because of a state law and a prior court case that put local agencies at risk of violating a suspect’s constitutional rights.
Yet, ICE officials have they are not required to provide a federal warrant sought by county sheriffs throughout the state.
Federal immigration authorities say they are monitoring the current case.
“Given the seriousness of the allegations associated with this individual’s arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is monitoring the case closely and has lodged a formal request with the custodial law enforcement agency seeking notification in advance of his release or transfer from local custody,” ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley said.
Villagomez was apprehended four days after the attack. He initially was arrested on unrelated charges and later charged in the Pharis attack.
He was born near the San Francisco Bay Area, making him a citizen of the United States. He moved to Mexico at the age of 3 and returned to the United States around age 15.
The police chief said the focus needs to remain on the woman who lost her life.
“She was a healthy woman at 64 years of age,” he said. “She was was sleeping in her bed and she was murdered.”
The men are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Thursday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.