Closing Arguments Set in Trial of Alleged Murdering Marines

This article was written by Patch Local Editor Mirna Alfonso.

Attorneys in the case of three Marines accused of killing a Corps sergeant and his bride during a French Valley home invasion robbery are set to deliver closing arguments next week.

Kevin Darnell Cox, 25, Emrys Justin John, 23, and Tyrone Miller, 25, could each face the death penalty if convicted in the Oct. 15, 2008 slayings of 24-year-old Janek Pietrzak and his 26-year-old wife, Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak.

A fourth defendant, 25-year-old Kesaun Kedron Sykes, will be tried in August.

Closing arguments will be held for Cox Tuesday, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's office.

Closings for John and Miller are scheduled for Wednesday.

There are two separate juries hearing evidence in the case -- one for Cox and another for John and Miller.

Following the arguments by the prosecutor and defense attorneys -- then a rebuttal argument by the deputy district attorney -- the juries will begin deliberations.

The arguments will take place at the Riverside Hall of Justice on Main Street, in Riverside.

Cox, Miller and John are each charged with two counts of murder -- with special circumstance allegations of murder during commission of a burglary, murder during commission of a robbery and committing more than one murder.

They also face a sentence-enhancing allegation each of committing a sexual assault during a robbery.

According to prosecutor Daniel DeLimon, the newly married couple had been bound, gagged and killed execution style.

Quiana was sexually assaulted as her husband watched, the prosecution contends.

Authorities said they believe the four Marines went to the home to burglarize the place but then decided to attack the sergeant and his wife.

Janek Pietrzak was a helicopter mechanic at Camp Pendleton and worked with John and Miller, according to court papers.

Cox told sheriff's investigators that he and his co-defendants initially tried to find an unlocked back entrance to the two-story house at 31319 Bermuda Ave., but couldn't, opting instead to simply ring the front doorbell.

According to Cox's story, he rang the bell twice shortly after 1 a.m., and Pietrzak came downstairs in a T-shirt and boxer shorts. Cox told investigators that he stepped back and let his co-defendants confront the young Marine.

The men overpowered the sergeant, robbed the couple and according to DeLimon, one of the men shot Pietrzak and his wife in their heads with a 9mm Beretta pistol, using cushions to suppress the gunfire.