Man convicted of murder for woman's stabbing in Pomona

POMONA -- An Azusa man was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday for the fatal stabbing of his cousin's wife, whose body was left in an abandoned van two years ago beside Pomona Superior Court.

A jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about five hours before convicting 36-year-old Joseph Gary Orta.

Orta faces at least 26 years to life in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for July 14.

Prosecutors accused Orta of stabbing Eileen Nicole Ponce-Orta, 22, in the neck, then wrapping her body in a blanket and leaving her in a van beside the courthouse on Feb. 15, 2008.

The woman's relatives discovered Ponce-Orta's body after police told them to pick up the woman's abandoned van. Ponce-Orta's mother, Tracy Ponce, was one of the relatives who discovered the woman's body.

"The family of Eileen Ponce is extremely happy that we got a guilty verdict," Tracy Ponce said after the verdict was read Thursday afternoon. "We got justice for Eileen and for (her daughter) Alina, so we're excited for that."

Ponce-Orta, of Covina, had been unhappy in her marriage, and the month before her death she began an affair with Orta -- her husband's cousin -- who had recently been released from prison for stabbing his stepfather.

Orta, Ponce-Orta and the woman's daughter, now 5, spent the final days of Ponce-Orta's life together. Prosecutors believe a break in the relationship between Orta and Ponce-Orta may have led to the woman's killing on Valentine's Day.

In his testimony during the trial, Orta said that the day before Ponce-Orta was found dead, she left him with her daughter at a park in Pomona and set off in her van to buy marijuana.

Orta said he never saw the woman again. And when Ponce-Orta's body was left beside the courthouse in the early morning hours of Feb. 15, Orta was asleep in a Fontana motel, he claimed in his testimony.

In her closing argument, Deputy District Attorney Stacy Okun-Wiese told jurors that Orta's story was a "fairy tale."

Tracy Ponce said that when the guilty verdict was read, Orta's reaction was difficult to read. "I didn't see any reaction on him," she said. "I thought I saw a smirk on his face."

Orta's defense attorney told the victim's family as she left the courtroom that the case would be appealed, Tracy Ponce said.

"We expect appeals and I'll be there for every one," she said. "... At least right now he's where he's supposed to be -- in jail behind bars."

Tracy Ponce, of La Puente, said that long before Orta's trial, she began working on a statement to read aloud in court at his sentencing.

"I'm going to remind him of who he hurt, and that's Eileen's daughter, Alina," she said. "She has to grow up with no mommy. That's mostly what I'm going to talk about."

After Ponce-Orta's killing, the woman's husband and daughter had their last names changed to Ponce -- removing Orta to symbolically cut ties with the Orta family, Tracy Ponce said.

"There are no Ortas in our house any more," she said.