El Monte Man’s Murderer Sentenced

POMONA — A Duarte man was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in prison for the first-degree murder of an El Monte man who was beaten, strangled and thrown off a roadside in Angeles National Forest last year.

Pomona Superior Court Judge David S. Milton handed down the sentence for Josen Jacobo, who was convicted Aug. 9 of the murder of Julio Roberto Perez, 39, of El Monte.

Perez’s body was found 150 feet down an embankment below Highway 39 on April 27, 1999, authorities said.

He was found after Jacobo called a tip line. Detectives subsequently determined that Jacobo was the killer.

Two witnesses at the trial testified they saw Jacobo and Perez at a bar in El Monte shortly before the victim disappeared. According to prosecutors, Jacobo and Perez had a dispute, either about drugs or a woman who worked at the bar.

Prosecutors say Jacobo inflicted head injuries on Perez and drove up the mountain, where he strangled him and disposed of the body.

Jacobo was tied to the murder by a cigarette butt found at the site and by Perez’s blood stains, which authorities say were found in the defendant’s car.

During the trial, Jacobo’s attorney argued that he drove the victim and another man to the remote location and that the other man killed Perez.