Detective: Jessica de la Torre killing 'most depressing murder case I have been involved in'

I got an e-mail yesterday from Sgt. Keith Volm, one of the Ontario police detectives who worked the Jessica de la Torre murder case. It's pretty compelling stuff.

Victor Lozada, one of three defendants in the case, went to trial for the third time this week in Riverside Superior Court.

Here's the e-mail, edited slightly to add paragraph breaks:

Keith Volm, xxx@ontariopolice.org
Subject: Jessica De La Torre Murder case
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:59:49 -0700
To: will.bigham@inlandnewspapers.com

Hi Will, I saw you in Riverside Court Thursday and didn't get a chance to say hello.

My partner Detective Mike Caldera and I were the detectives who originally investigated Jessica's murder and located and arrested Jesus Penuelas.

Having been a police officer for nearly 23 years, this case still stands out as the most depressing murder case I have been involved in.

Though any murder is an unfortunate occurrence, this case dealt with an attractive young woman who refused the casual advances of co-worker Jesus Penuelas to enter into a relationship. Jessica was too kind and did not do enough to separate herself from him.

I can only imagine that when Jesus and Sergio Arias showed up at her house intent on robbing her that August 15, 2003, Jessica was too kind to close the door on them and allowed them in her home.

What happened to her as a result, was enough to shock even the most hardened and experienced homicide detective. It did me. Every August 15th, since, I recall that weekend.

We worked that case from Friday night 8/15 through Monday night 8/18, nonstop. Never taking even a short nap.

The key to solving this case came from one of Jessica's male co-workers and best friend who thought it strange Jesus quit work the following morning after the murder.

His suspicions caused Detective Caldera and I to go to Jesus' home where we located the key piece of physical evidence; Two t-shirts matching a blood soaked t-shirt found in Jessica's burned out home.

A friend of Jesus' had driven up from Mexico and had paused to take a nap at the apartment before taking Jesus to Mexico with him. Had we waited another two hours, we believe Jesus would have been on his way to Mexico.

The help we received from the Riverside Sheriff's Department and District Attorney's office in the days and weeks to follow, helped to build a solid case against the three defendants.

I feel for Jessica's family and can only hope they have some good days. Feel free to call if you have any questions, or email me back. Thank you.

Keith Volm
Detective Sergeant
Ontario Police Department
2500 S. Archibald Ave.
Ontario, Ca. 91761