FROM:
Amy Cornell, Public Information Officer
(408) 792-2997 CONTACT:
Brian Welch, Deputy District Attorney
(408) 792-2624 For release on April 20, 2009 MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERING WOMAN IN 2007 IS SENTENCED TO 85 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Alden E. Danner sentenced 39-year old Alfredo Rudy Pena to 85 years to life for the 2007 murder and first-degree robbery of Johnanna Giron. At 3:00am on May 6, 2007, Santa Clara police officers found the 26-year old Giron, dead in a Santa Clara hotel room. She had been bound and strangled. DNA evidence taken from the victim connected Pena to the crime, and after a thorough investigation, Santa Clara Police arrested Pena at his workplace. Surveillance video at the hotel shows Pena entering the victim’s room, then returning to his truck in the hotel parking lot, then returning to the victim’s hotel room once again. Then, the video shows Pena leaving the room some time later, with a black bag in his hands. The victim’s boyfriend showed up later and found her dead in the hotel room, and he called police. There was no evidence of sexual assault. An investigation revealed Pena had decided to kill and rob the victim once he arrived at the hotel. Pena had used Giron’s credit card at various stores and gas stations after her murder. ###
Amy Cornell, Public Information Officer
(408) 792-2997 CONTACT:
Brian Welch, Deputy District Attorney
(408) 792-2624 For release on April 20, 2009 MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERING WOMAN IN 2007 IS SENTENCED TO 85 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Alden E. Danner sentenced 39-year old Alfredo Rudy Pena to 85 years to life for the 2007 murder and first-degree robbery of Johnanna Giron. At 3:00am on May 6, 2007, Santa Clara police officers found the 26-year old Giron, dead in a Santa Clara hotel room. She had been bound and strangled. DNA evidence taken from the victim connected Pena to the crime, and after a thorough investigation, Santa Clara Police arrested Pena at his workplace. Surveillance video at the hotel shows Pena entering the victim’s room, then returning to his truck in the hotel parking lot, then returning to the victim’s hotel room once again. Then, the video shows Pena leaving the room some time later, with a black bag in his hands. The victim’s boyfriend showed up later and found her dead in the hotel room, and he called police. There was no evidence of sexual assault. An investigation revealed Pena had decided to kill and rob the victim once he arrived at the hotel. Pena had used Giron’s credit card at various stores and gas stations after her murder. ###