On Wednesday afternoon, the jury came back with a decision in
the case against Carlos Varela, the Oxnard resident who killed
former 29-year-old UCSB student Holly Lake in August 2005. The jury
needed less than five hours to decide that Varela was guilty of
first-degree murder, a charge that could result in a life sentence.
The prosecutor Josh Lynn and the Lake family were overjoyed to hear
the news.
Whether or not Varela committed the crime was never in question;
he admitted to the murder and directed police to Lake’s body, which
was dumped where Gibraltar Road connects with East Camino Cielo in
the mountains above Santa Barbara. But earlier this week, Varela’s
defense attorney Steven Balash called the suspect to the stand in
hopes of showing the jury that the murder was a crime of passion, a
manslaughter offense that carries a much lesser prison term. The jury didn’t buy it.
Next up for Varela is sentencing, which will be done by Judge
Brian Hill, who presided over the case.