WICHITA, Kan. (AP) â A judge has sentenced the head of a former Kansas commune to life in prison for the killing of a commune member 12 years ago.
Fifty-five-year-old Daniel Perez was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder last month in the 2003 drowning death of Patricia Hughes at the suburban Wichita compound where the commune lived. Perez showed no emotion Tuesday when he was sentenced.
He received a second life sentence on a sexual exploitation of a child conviction and nearly 34 more years behind bars for convictions on 26 other counts, including rape and aggravated criminal sodomy, among others.
Prosecutors say Perez received millions of dollars in life insurance payouts following the commune members’ deaths.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The leader of a Kansas commune that received millions of dollars in life insurance payouts from dead members faces will soon learn his punishment for the murder of one of them.
Fifty-five-year-old Daniel Perez faces a life sentence after a jury found him guilty last month of first-degree premeditated murder for 2003 death of Patricia Hughes at the suburban Wichita compound that was home to the commune. Her death was considered an accident until 2011, when a woman who was 12 at the time told authorities the death was staged.
He also was found guilty of 27 other counts, including rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, sexual exploitation of a child and making false information.
Perez testified he was innocent. His attorneys have asked for his acquittal or new trial.