October 4, 2007

Suspects in slaying enter plea
Three men say they are not guilty in the 1994 stabbing death of Cathy Torrez of Placentia, found dead in her car’s trunk.
By ADAM TOWNSEND THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Three men arrested this summer in the 1994 stabbing death of Cathy Torrez, a 20-year-old Placentia resident found dead in her car’s trunk, entered not-guilty pleas Friday.

A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 12.

Cousins Sam Lopez, 35, and Xavier Lopez, 35, were arrested in July on suspicion of murder.

Armando Lopez, 36, Sam Lopez’s brother, was arrested on accessory to murder and witness-tampering charges.

About two dozen Lopez friends and family members showed up in support of the accused, many wearing T-shirts reading “Team Lopez” on the front and “I was framed” on the back.

“How can you honor the memory of the dead by persecuting the innocent?” said family member Miguel “Gorilla” Lopez.

Torrez was missing for a week in February 1994.

She was stabbed to death and her body was found in the trunk of her car in the parking lot of Placentia-Linda Hospital.

Community members rallied around the family, and the city named an afterschool tutoring center after Torrez, a sociology student at Cal State Fullerton.

Police at the time said heavy rains over the week washed away most forensic evidence.

But an official with the District Attorney’s Office this July said improvements in technology yielded genetic evidence.

Sam Lopez, Torrez’s former boyfriend, had been under police suspicion since the investigation began.