GUILTY CA - Desiree Thompson, 30, found deceased, Bakersfield, 7 Jan 2012 *guilty in 2023*

[imstilla.grandma]

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Authorities were digging at a California City home Friday after receiving information there was evidence related to a woman who went missing a decade ago, her mother told 17 News.

Sheri Smith, mother of Desiree Thompson, said police informed her the activity at a home in the area of Lime Avenue and 87th Street was connected to her daughter’s disappearance in January 2012. Thompson was 30 at the time.

Earlier, California City Police Chief Jon Walker stressed the digging had nothing to do with the investigation into the disappearance of Orrin and Orson West, and the occupants of the home were not involved.

Thompson went missing after leaving her home on 68th Street the night of Jan. 7, 2012.
https://www.kget.com/news/crime-watch/digging-at-cal-city-home-related-to-decade-old-disappearance/

 

[imstilla.grandma]

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The Kern County Coroner confirmed the remains found in March belonged to Desiree Thompson.

Officials say, Thompson, 30, was reported missing on Jan. 7, 2012 and her remains were found more than a decade later.

Thompson’s remains were found at a home on 86th Street in California City, Calif., according to the county coroner’s office.

Jose William Lara, 60, was arrested in March and is facing charges of murder, he pleaded not guilty.

Remains of missing Cal City woman, identified

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The Kern County Coroner confirmed the remains found in March belonged to Desiree Thompson. Officials say, Thompson, 30, was reported missing on Jan. 7, 2012 and h…

www.kget.com

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Desiree Thompson’s remains return home after she went missing for 10 years

ROSAMOND, Calif. (KGET) — Desiree Thompson went missing in California City in 2012. A decade later her remains were found at a Cal City home, but now she is back home with her family. Early t…

www.kget.com

 

[YaYa_521]

Desiree Thompson’s remains return home after she went missing for 10 years

ROSAMOND, Calif. (KGET) — Desiree Thompson went missing in California City in 2012. A decade later her remains were found at a Cal City home, but now she is back home with her family. Early t…

www.kget.com

More from link:

...her remains were found buried in the backyard of a Cal City home once rented by a man with no connection to Desiree. [snip] 60-year-old Jose William Lara was arrested in March and is facing charges of murder in connection to her death, to which Lara pleaded not guilty.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A decade after her disappearance, her body was located in March buried in a backyard, and a 61-year-old man — a stranger to Thompson — charged with first-degree murder.

Authorities allege in court documents that Thompson got in the pickup of Jose William Lara and paid with her life, according to redacted reports filed in Kern County Superior Court.

“It’s mind-boggling, it’s the hardest thing to accept,” said Sheri Smith, Thompson’s mother, when interviewed after Lara’s arrest. “I never in a million years would’ve thought that I’d be standing here with that person being a suspect.”

Desiree Thompson, left, with mother Sheri Smith. Courtesy Sheri Smith

Lara is scheduled to stand trial later this month but the case could get postponed.

Buried in backyard: Missing woman’s remains located decade later, suspect arrested

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — When Desiree Thompson went missing from a city in eastern Kern County, a number of possibilities were bandied about as weeks then months passed. Did she leave tow…

www.kron4.com

 

[dotr]

by Leslie Valle, May 8th 2023 rbbm.

California City cold case is steps closer to being solved

Not having my daughter is probably the worst experience I've ever had in my life

bakersfieldnow.com

''Lara is accused of murdering Thompson and burying her remains in the backyard of his home at the time in California City.

About a decade later, Lara’s trial is now set to begin on Tuesday, May 9.

“To now have to face this person in court every day, until justice is served is very very hard," said Smith.

Smith, the mother of Thompson, said she’s overwhelmed with emotions.

"Justice is just around the corner at this point. so, I'm happy that it’s now going to be in process," said Smith.

Smith mentioned in a previous interview with Eyewitness News that the coroner found what was chopping marks on her daughter's skull.

However, there are still a lot of things she doesn't know about her daughter's disappearance that she is expected to learn during the trial.

“I'm overwhelmed by the thought of what I'm going to have to deal with sitting in this courtroom, hearing testimonies and things like that," said Smith.''

 

[PommyMommy]

MAY 18, 2023

Man guilty of murdering Cal City woman who was missing for 10 years

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The family of a California City woman whose remains were found 10 years after she went missing received a measure of closure Thursday after a jury returned a guil…

www.kget.com

The family of a California City woman whose remains were found 10 years after she went missing received a measure of closure Thursday after a jury returned a guilty verdict of first-degree murder against the man accused of killing her.

Jose Lara, 61, was convicted in the slaying of Desiree Thompson, whose skeletal remains were found buried in the backyard of a home where Lara had previously lived.

Lara faces life in prison at his June 16 sentencing. He was arrested last year after two men came forward and told police he had bragged about killing a woman years ago.

[...]

 

[NeverPersonal]

So... did he offer her a ride or something? Why would she get in his truck?
So sick of these randomly murderous men </3

Lara faces life in prison at his June 16 sentencing. He was arrested last year after two men came forward and told police he had bragged about killing a woman years ago.

[...]

Wtf

 

[PommyMommy]

So... did he offer her a ride or something? Why would she get in his truck?
So sick of these randomly murderous men </3

Wtf

According to him, he invited her home for a drink and she agreed.

Buried in backyard: Missing woman’s remains located decade later, suspect arrested​

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Investigators corroborated multiple details provided by the men and later searched the home where Lara had lived in 2012, prosecutor Christine Antonios said at trial. The FBI dug up the backyard and found the remains.

Deputy Public Defender Mark Stamper argued Thompson’s abusive ex-husband was the killer. He told the jury there had been a violent confrontation between Thompson and the ex-husband the morning of her disappearance; it involved a gun and police were called. The ex-husband left before officers arrived.

Following the altercation early Jan. 7, 2012, Thompson’s mother, Sheri Smith, arrived between 10 and 11 a.m. and talked with her daughter, who decided to spend the rest of the day with friends. Thompson later called her mother from a friend’s home around 8:30 p.m. and told her she was leaving for her apartment and would call her when she got in.

She never called. Police searched the area but couldn’t find her. Years passed.

Last year, on the 10th anniversary of her daughter’s disappearance, Smith, who frequently posted about Thompson on Facebook, shared another post asking for information. A man who knew Lara saw it and remembered that Lara years ago shared a story about killing a woman he randomly met and burying her in his backyard, Antonios said.

Man guilty of murdering Cal City woman who was missing for 10 years

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The family of a California City woman whose remains were found 10 years after she went missing received a measure of closure Thursday after a jury returned a guil…

www.kget.com

 

[PommyMommy]

JUN 16 Sentencing - Life

Man convicted for killing, burying woman in 2012 sentenced: 25 to life

It took a Kern County jury less than 30 minutes to find Jose William Lara guilty in the death of Desiree Thompson. Lara buried Thompson's body in the backyard of a Cal City house he was renting.

www.turnto23.com

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Bush explained how he came to his decision.

"He was engaged in violent conduct which indicates a serious danger to society under B1. He's obviously not a candidate for probation, and with that, probation is denied," said Bush.

The judge also ruled that Lara has to pay restitution to Thompson's family, the amount of which will be determined at a later date.

Man guilty of murdering Desiree Thompson, now sentenced 25 years to life in prison

It's been a little more than a decade since 30-year-old Desiree Thompson went missing. Her case went unsolved for several years until a year ago, when her body

bakersfieldnow.com

Now after so much waiting, her mother Sheri Smith, got to see Lara sentenced 25 years to life for her daughter's murder.

Smith said it was an emotional day. Desiree's daughter, who was 4 at the time, now 15, allowed herself to cry for the first time. She also said Lara continued to deny any involvement in the murder during his sentencing.

"25 years to life is a long time for a 62-year-old man, he will never see the light of day," said Smith.

 

[PommyMommy]

JUN 16, 2023

UPDATED: Man gets 25 years to life in 11-year-old California City cold case

As 15-year-old Niara Thompson watched her mother’s murderer get sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole, tears rolled down her face for the

www.bakersfield.com

As 15-year-old NT watched her mother’s murderer get sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole, tears rolled down her face for the first time since she died 11 years ago.

[...]

Desiree’s family packed into a courtroom Friday, some wearing a shirt with the 30 year old’s face on it. California City police officers also arrived at the hearing in Kern County Superior Court, and heard Desiree’s family tearfully provide victim impact statements detailing their tremendous loss.

“We still have nightmares,” KW, Desiree’s uncle, said during his victim impact statement. “We ask questions like — Did God see her suffer? Did she feel His comfort?”

Lara listened through the hearing through an interpreter translating the statements in Spanish. At the end of the family’s remarks, he denied any involvement in the murder.

In response, Superior Court Judge Michael G. Bush said his denials fall on deaf ears, prompting laughter from Desiree’s family members.

A jury took a scant 40 minutes to convict Lara of first-degree murder.

[...]

 

[iulia]

Desiree's NamUs profile was removed yesterday.