Sarabia entered the couple’s home through an unlocked garage door that also provided access to the house. Wotkyns’ purse was found downstairs, in all probability containing the keys to the distinctive NASCAR edition car. Nevertheless, Sarabia, who lived within blocks of the couple, climbed the stairs with the bat to brutally beat Ramirez and Wotkyns beyond recognition. Then, went downstairs to retrieve a knife from the kitchen that he used to stab them repeatedly.Reportedly, Sarabia did not cooperate with Johnson. Sarabia spent the trail sitting motionless, his mouth slightly open, showing no emotion and blankly staring ahead.His parents, Eva and Fermin Sarabia, had also sought help for their son, who was spinning out of control, according to several anonymous sources.Sarabia was convicted in March for the Oct. 21 murders including special allegations that he killed the couple during a burglary and robbery.His conviction followed a week of testimony from Santa Paula police, crime scene investigators and Sarabia’s friends who said that he showed up with Wotkyns’ Monte Carlo and said that it belonged to a friend. After accidently activating a tracking device Sarabia abandoned the car in the Kmart parking lot on Faulkner Road, less than a mile from the murders.Santa Paula Police investigators quickly zeroed in on Sarabia, who wore a sweatshirt stained with the victims’ blood during questioning. After his arrest, neighbors in the quiet Las Pasadas area told investigators of seeing Sarabia aimlessly walking the streets late at night, his head covered with the hood of a dark sweatshirt, “creeping around,” according to one resident.Johnson commissioned a psychological evaluation for Sarabia, who reportedly was addicted to extremely violent video games.Sarabia is just “evil,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Richard Simon, who dismissed the psychological report noting that Sarabia is a sociopath without any sense of guilt who cares only about himself.
Adam Sarabia: Life in prison without possibility of parole for double homicide
September 24, 2004
Santa Paula News
Just days after his 18th birthday a Santa Paula youth was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the brutal slaying a married couple in their bed.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesJust days after his 18th birthday a Santa Paula youth was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the brutal slaying a married couple in their bed.There is still no explanation of why Adam Sarabia attacked John Ramirez, 59, and Joann Wotkyns, 55, with a Little League bat and knives in the second story bedroom of their Las Pasadas home in October 2002.“I would love to know why,” said Dawn Chris, Wotkyns’ daughter, during Wednesday’s sentencing.As she watched Sarabia turn away, Chris continued poignantly, “Why them? I don’t understand.”“You took two beautiful people out of the world who would have given you the car if you asked for it,” Michelle Massey, Wotkyns’ other daughter, told Sarabia.Many Santa Paulans, shocked by its brutality, don’t understand the crime: on one hand, prosecutors claimed that Sarabia killed the couple to steal Wotkyns’ special edition Monte Carlo and a cell phone belong to Ramirez.Sarabia’s attorney, Jay Johnson, believes that Sarabia is mentally ill, suffering from a brain defect.
