22-year sentence ends California MySpace murder case
William Sotelo was the last defendant sought in the 2006 slaying of Crystal Theobald.
The last defendant in the 2006 murder of a young Riverside woman was sentenced Thursday to 22 years in prison, ending a case that was partly solved with information gathered from fake accounts created on the now-defunct social media platform MySpace by the victim’s mother.
William Sotelo, 31, was the driver of an SUV filled with gang members that pulled up to a car Crystal Theobald was riding in with others in February 2006 in Riverside’s Arlanza neighborhood, police said. The car she was in came under fire, and she was fatally shot in the head.
The attack by the men and juveniles in the SUV was in retaliation for a shot taken at one of them earlier in the day by a rival gang member. But neither Theobald, 24, nor anyone else in the car, were in gangs, police said. Theobald left behind two young daughters.
As his trial date neared, Sotelo reached an agreement with prosecutors Jan. 13 that included pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter along with gang and firearm allegations. He had been charged with first-degree murder, which was dismissed Thursday along with other charges as part of the deal.
Theobald’s mother, Belinda Lane, was in a car behind the one her daughter was in, and witnessed the shooting.
On Thursday, Lane spent more than 16 minutes verbally lacerating Sotelo, who was seated in the courtroom jury box alongside his defense attorney.
Sotelo stared straight ahead at the opposite courtroom wall as Lane used her victim impact statement to call him a “coward,” a “monster,” a “punk,” and “despicable” She told Sotelo she hoped other gang members “snuff your life out” while in prison.
“I don’t think you’ll last long,” she said. Sotelo, in 2006, had provided police with information that widened their investigation into Theobald’s slaying.
Each side of the courtroom of Riverside County Superior Court Judge John D. Molloy was crowded with family members for both Lane and Sotelo. When Lane turned her anger at Sotelo’s family, accusing them of helping hide him in Mexico, Molloy had to admonish her, saying she could address him, or Sotelo, but not other people in the courtroom.
Lane apologized. She stood with her husband Ben as she addressed Sotelo while a member of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Victims Services team stood behind them and held a large portrait of Crystal.
None of Sotelo’s family members spoke in court, and they declined to comment outside court.
Lane said outside court that she had forgiven others who pleaded or were convicted in her daughter’s death, but with Sotelo, “I’m still processing. He wasn’t even sorry.”
It was Lane who, shortly after Theobald’s slaying, created the two false MySpace accounts that appeared to belong to young women and were tailored to lure information from local gang members. One of the accounts used the name Crystal, but not a picture of the victim.
The information gathered was enough to lead police to Sotelo, but then he disappeared for nearly 10 years after a voluntary interview with detectives. There had not been enough evidence then to arrest him, but as the case grew, other suspects were identified.
Julio Heredia, convicted as the gunman in the shooting, was sentenced in 2011 to life in prison without parole.
Ten others pleaded guilty over the years to an array of counts stemming from Theobald’s slaying, from witness intimidation, to attempted murder, to gun and gang charges. Sentences ranged from probation to 18 years in prison.
Then Sotelo, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the United States in May 2016, closing the circle. He will get about 4-1/4 years credit for time already served as he awaited trial.
His attorney, Peter Morreale, said outside court Thursday changes in criminal law over the years weakened the prosecution’s case and opened the door for the settlement.
Riverside Police Sgt. Rick Wheeler, who investigated the case from the start, was in the courtroom Thursday. “I’m just glad the family can have some peace. It puts another layer of closure on this.”