Three men were sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the killings of a prominent plastic surgeon and another man nearly a year later at the doctor’s 200-acre ranch in the Antelope Valley, while one other man was sentenced to 28 years to life.
Nicolas Olvera Cordoba, 63, Antonio Martinez, 51, and Arturo Rosales Verdin, 47, were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Marco Antonio Garcia, 38, received 28 years to life in prison.
The men were convicted in connection with the July 5, 2006, killing of Dr. Esfandiar “Steve” Kadivar, 64, and the April 28, 2007, killing of Efrain Soto Martines, 47.
Verdin and Martinez were convicted for both killings. Cordoba was convicted of Soto Martines’ killing, but jurors deadlocked on charges against him stemming from Kadivar’s death. Garcia pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for Soto Martines’ killing.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Blake said the killings were motivated by greed and envy, saying that Cordoba had “murderous designs on both of them for money.”
Cordoba had been the doctor’s “trusted right-hand man for six or seven years before the murder,” helping him to manage the ranch about 15 miles west of Lancaster, where they grew alfalfa and pistachios, the prosecutor said.
“At some point, Nicolas Cordoba decided he wanted more,” Blake told jurors during the trial of Martinez and Verdin.
Cordoba allegedly orchestrated the doctor’s murder in order to take control of the ranch and on July 5, 2006, Martinez ambushed the victim, opening fire with a high-powered rifle, according to the prosecution.
Kadivar’s unsuspecting family later leased the ranch to Cordoba, asking him to pay $20,000 per year, according to Blake. Cordoba then convinced Soto Martines, an old friend, to come in as a partner, telling him the rent was $40,000 and asking Soto to pay half, the prosecutor said.
“Almost immediately, from the time this deal was struck, there was friction,” Blake said.
Eventually Cordoba began looking for someone to murder his partner and found Garcia, according to the prosecutor. Cordoba paid Garcia $5,000 to kill Soto Martines, who was shot while working at the ranch.
— City News Service