Two sex-cult members sentenced to life in prison in murder of Marine wife

Two of the three “master-slave” sex-cult members convicted of murdering a young Marine wife were sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The third member is set to be sentenced in Vista Superior Court on Jan. 15.

Former Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Perez, 49, Dorothy Grace Maraglino, 40, and Jessica Lynn Lopez, 28, were convicted of torturing and murdering Brittany Killgore, 22, of Fallbrook.

Perez and Maraglino were sentenced by Judge Michael Kirkman. Lopez is set to sentenced in January. The district attorney did not seek the death penalty.

The trio killed Killgore “for their own sadistic pleasure,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrick Espinoza said.

Before the sentencing, Killgore’s father, Darryl Wrest, read a statement to the court: “No words can ever convey the feelings and despair of losing a child in such a horrific manner. It cannot be undone. I was meant to protect her and I failed her.”

Killgore was not a part of the cult, which enjoyed bondage, whipping, spanking, cutting, sadism and masochism, prosecutor Espinoza had told jurors.

Without knowing the three had a “sex dungeon” in their rented home, Killgore agreed to go on a dinner cruise with Perez in exchange for his helping her move out of her Fallbrook apartment, prosecutors said.

Killgore had just filed for divorce from her husband, who was deployed to Afghanistan, when she disappeared after the outing with Perez. Killgore’s husband was stationed at Camp Pendleton, as was Perez.

Killgore’s nude body was found in a ravine in southern Riverside County four days after she was reported missing April 13, 2012. She had been strangled, possibly with a rope.

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