An Azusa man was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday for the fatal stabbing of his cousin’s wife, whose body was left in an abandoned van two years ago beside Pomona Superior Court. A jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about five hours before convicting 36-year-old Joseph Gary Orta...
Ponce-Orta, of Covina, had been unhappy in her marriage, and the month before her death she began an affair with Orta — her husband’s cousin — who had recently been released from prison for stabbing his stepfather. Orta, Ponce-Orta and the woman’s daughter, now 5, spent the final days of Ponce-Orta’s life together. Prosecutors believe a break in the relationship between Orta and Ponce-Orta may have led to the woman’s killing on Valentine’s Day...
After Ponce-Orta’s killing, the woman’s husband and daughter had their last names changed to Ponce — removing Orta to symbolically cut ties with the Orta family, Tracy Ponce said. “There are no Ortas in our house any more,” she said.