Jose William Lara and Desiree Thompson (KGET screenshots)
A 61-year-old California man is set to spend the rest of his life behind bars for murdering a 30-year-old woman more than a decade ago and burying her remains in his backyard.
Superior Court Judge Michael G. Bush on Friday sentenced Jose William Lara to 25 years to life in prison for the 2012 disappearance and murder of Desiree Thompson, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Last month, a Kern County jury found Lara guilty of one count of first-degree murder in Thompson’s death.
According to a press release from the Kern County District Attorney’s Office, Thompson was last seen on the evening of January 7, 2012 before suddenly disappearing.
“SP. Thompson had left home at 6:00 p.m. that evening to visit a friend and last spoke to his mother at approximately 8:30 p.m.,” authorities said. “Desiree’s mother asked Desiree to call back when she got home safely, but that phone call never came and Desiree Thompson was never heard from again.”
Despite the efforts of law enforcement authorities, a lack of leads in the investigation of Thompson’s whereabouts caused the case to sit cold for nearly 10 years.
There was no new information about the disappearance until two informants provided information about Thompson’s killer. Informants reported that Lara confessed to them about what he did in 2012, and they were able to help law enforcement by providing invaluable leads that helped solve the case.
Evidence at trial established that Lara met Désirée on her way home. He killed her in his home, prosecutors said. Lara then disposed of Desiree’s body in her garden, where her remains were eventually located by law enforcement.
According to a report by Bakersfield NBC affiliate KGET-TV, the informants were a friend of Lara’s and the friend’s father.
Lara is said to have been attending a football game with a friend and the friend’s father when he suddenly reveals that he once killed a woman and got away with the crime. Lara reportedly told them that he had gone out to a party that night where he had been physically assaulted. Angered at being beaten, he said he left the party and went looking for someone to vent his anger on.
While driving his van, he bumped into Thompson — whom he described to the other men as being “black or half-black” — and convinced her to come home, KGET reported. Arriving home, Lara told Thompson to grab a beer from a small refrigerator. But when she reached inside, he allegedly attacked, smashing the victim’s head into the corner of the fridge and using a knife to stab her to death.
The pair could have shown law enforcement where Thompson’s body was using a diagram of the house Lara lived in 10 years ago.
Prosecutors said the California City Police Department was able to establish that Lara killed Desiree with DNA and other forensic evidence.
Before Judge Bush handed down the sentence, several members of Thompson’s family read victim impact statements.
Her mother, Sheri Smith, said Thompson was her “only child” and “best friend,” according to Bakersfield ABC affiliate KERO-TV.
“It’s a blessing. This man will go, he’ll rot the rest of his life and can’t hurt anyone else, and that’s the whole point of getting that justice for her, and justice for others, that this man can’t go out there and hurt somebody else,” she reportedly told the court. “He’s a very mean man, and it’s bittersweet because I don’t have my daughter here. I can’t kiss my daughter anymore. I can’t tell her that I love her. She cannot be with her children, which is very important to them.
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