A California appeals court has upheld the conviction of a 57-year-old man serving life without parole for the September 1989 rape and murder of 39-year-old Monica Wertlieb, whose body was found in a hidden lot in Los Angeles' Westlake district. The ruling closes another chapter in a case that went unsolved for nearly three decades before DNA evidence led detectives to Orlando Dejesus Arredondodonis.
In a 15-page opinion, a three-justice panel of California's 2nd District Court of Appeal concluded that Arredondodonis dragged Wertlieb nearly 200 feet into an elevated, hidden lot before killing her specifically to rape her out of public view, satisfying the legal standard for a rape-murder special circumstance, according to MyNewsLA.com. The court rejected the defense's contention that evidence was insufficient to support that special circumstance, and it also rejected the argument that jurors should never have heard about an alleged 2017 domestic violence incident involving Arredondodonis. Wertlieb was found dead in the 1300 block of West Third Street near Bixel Street and Lucas Avenue, in a vacant lot west of the Harbor 110 Freeway, on September 17, 1989.
DNA testing eventually linked Arredondodonis to the crime, and Los Angeles Police Department Robbery-Homicide Division detectives arrested him in October 2017. He has remained behind bars ever since. The break fits a broader pattern for the department's Robbery-Homicide Division, whose Cold Case Homicide Unit was established in November 2001 to re-examine unsolved cases using advances in DNA technology and was restructured in 2020 to incorporate reserve officers and retired detectives, according to the Los Angeles Police Reserve Foundation. LAPD records indicate the department has investigated more than 11,000 homicides since 1980, with roughly 4,000 remaining unsolved cold cases, per Uncovered.
Jury Reached Verdict in Under Two Hours
A downtown Los Angeles jury deliberated for approximately two hours on April 29, 2024, before finding Arredondodonis guilty of first-degree murder and rape, according to the Los Angeles Police Protective League. Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of a rape. During closing arguments, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Lara said the evidence showed Wertlieb was knocked unconscious, dragged, raped and had her throat cut with a broken bottle.
Defense counsel had asked jurors for an acquittal, contending that prosecution claims of rape rested on speculation and that the exact location and time of Wertlieb's death remained unclear, the outlet reported. Prosecutors countered during trial that forensic testing found no DNA of anybody else on the victim or on physical evidence recovered from the Westlake crime scene. Arredondodonis had denied sexual contact during police questioning.
Prior Domestic Violence Allegation Allowed at Trial
Jurors were permitted to hear about an alleged 2017 domestic violence incident involving Arredondodonis under California Evidence Code Section 1109, which allows prosecutors to introduce a defendant's prior uncharged domestic violence to demonstrate a propensity for violence, according to the Esfandi Law Group. That statute carves out an exception to California's general restriction on character evidence, and the appellate panel rejected the defense's argument that admitting it was improper.
The standalone rape charge against Arredondodonis was ultimately dismissed at sentencing by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter, because the statute of limitations had expired by the time he was charged in 2017. California eliminated the statute of limitations for felony rape through Senate Bill 813 in 2016, but that law took effect January 1, 2017, and did not retroactively restore expired time limits for offenses committed decades earlier, according to KQED. Rape charges carried a 10-year statute of limitations at the time of the 1989 crime.
Special Circumstance Sustains Life Sentence Despite Dismissed Charge
Dismissing the standalone rape count did not undo the life sentence. Under California Penal Code Section 190.2, a conviction for first-degree murder with special circumstances — such as murder during the commission of a rape — carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison without parole or death, regardless of whether the standalone felony charge is time-barred, according to Eisner Gorin LLP. Murder itself carries no statute of limitations in California, which is why the case could still be prosecuted nearly three decades after the killing.
Arredondodonis was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in May 2024. At sentencing, Judge Hunter called the killing an absolutely atrocious crime and noted that the defendant did not show an ounce of regret in a subsequent police interview.
Family Reflects on a Mother They Never Got to Know
A victim impact statement read at sentencing revealed that Monica Wertlieb had placed her daughter, Katie Hepburn, up for adoption after her birth in 1981, which Hepburn described as her mother's ultimate sacrifice before later reconnecting with birth family members. Hepburn said she would never be able to meet or hear the voice of her mother because of Arredondodonis.
Mike Gale, Wertlieb's cousin, called her a gentle soul who would be no match for anyone in a struggle. Gale said Arredondodonis is finally suffering the consequences of his actions, closing out a case that spanned nearly 37 years from the killing to the appellate court's affirmation of his conviction.
