Ex-Marines face death penalty in murder-rape case
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Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in the trial of three former Marines charged with murdering another Marine and his wife in 2008 in Riverside County.
Sgt. Jan Pietrzak, 24, and his wife, Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26, were bound and gagged before they were shot in the head, prosecutors said. Jenkins-Pietrzak was raped while her husband was forced to watch, and a fire was set to destroy evidence, according to court documents.
The Riverside County district attorney’s office is seeking the death penalty against Kevin Cox, 25; Tyrone Miller, 25; and Emrys John, 22.
A fourth former Marine, Kesaun Sykes, 25, also faces the death penalty but will be tried separately, the district attorney’s office said. All four have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said the attackers stormed the couple’s home in the French Valley neighborhood in southern Riverside County as part of a robbery scheme.
Pietrzak, an Iraq war veteran, was stationed at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego. His wife was a counselor with a Riverside County infant care program. They had been married for two months.
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— Robert J. Lopez
