Jury Convicts Man of Killing Roommate, an Iraq War Veteran

By PAUL ANDERSON
City News Service

A 55-year-old man was convicted of second-degree murder today for killing his roommate, an Iraq War veteran who was missing for about two weeks before her body was found in Modjeska Canyon.

Kwang Chol Joy’s attorney contended there was no evidence he killed 36- year-old Maribel Ramos. But prosecutors said Joy’s actions after Ramos’ disappearance proved that “if he couldn’t have Maribel, he was going to make sure no one did.”

Sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 12.

According to trial testimony, the defendant and victim -- who lived together in Orange -- had an “intense argument” the night of May 2, 2013, and friends and family reported her missing the following day when they were unable to contact her.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons told jurors that the “big break” in the case came when investigators had Joy under surveillance and caught him doing research on a public library computer on how long it takes for a body to decompose and how close a search party was getting to the spot where he buried Ramos’ body.

Joy “did a virtual drive-by of where he dumped” Ramos’ body, the prosecutor said.

“You’ve heard the old adage that the killer returns to the scene of the crime? He did,” Simmons said.

Joy’s online searches led investigators straight to the victim, Simmons said.

After Joy searched for the information on decomposition of a human body and the location of where Ramos was buried, he tried to erase his browsing history, apparently not realizing it was simple for investigators to forensically retrieve the information later, Simmons said.

During the search for Ramos, Joy took part in media interviews.

“The defendant made a conscious decision to lie to police and the media, claiming he had no idea what happened to Maribel over and over again,” Simmons said. “And all the time he knows he buried her after murdering her... What kind of person does that? A cold-blooded person.”

Ramos disappeared just days before she was about to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Cal State Fullerton.

Joy’s attorney contended that while he may have acted suspiciously after Ramos’ disappearance, it didn’t prove that he killed her.

“They’ve proven K.C. Joy’s statements are not reliable, that he’s strange,” defense attorney Adam Vining said. “Maybe he’s misleading, maybe he’s a liar, but nothing he says let’s you know what happened (to the victim).”