Jessica Lopez who claims she was a willing ‘slave’, but did not participate in a 2012 murder, tried to overturn her conviction, 11 years into her life sentence

Lopez had confessed to the murder in 2015, but thanks to a 2018 amendment, she tried to have the 2015 decision thrown out, but on Tuesday it was denied by a judge

Former sex slave Jessica Lopez convicted of 2012 S&M murder in dungeon now claims she’s innocent and that she only confessed to keep her throuple ‘master’ and ‘mistress’ out of prison

Brittany Killgore, 22, was abducted then was found naked and dismembered in a ditch near San Diego, California, in April 2012

Bondage sex fetishists Louis Perez, Dorothy Maraglino and Jessica Lopez were convicted of murder, torture, kidnap, attempted sexual battery

Trio of Louis Perez, 45, Dorothy Maraglino, 40, and Jessica Lopez, 25, were all sentenced to life in prison without parole

Two of those – Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Ray Perez and his pregnant girlfriend Dorothy Maraglino kept the third, Jessica Lopez, as a sex slave

Killgore, who refused to participate in their twisted sex games was the wife of Lance Cpl Cory Killgore who was in Afghanistan at the time

Jessica Lopez, who said she was a willing ‘sex slave’ for Louis Perez and Dorothy Maraglino, is pictured in court for her sentencing in November 2015. On Tuesday she lost her bid to have her conviction for murder and life sentence overturned

A California sex slave has unsuccessfully sought to have her conviction for murdering a woman overturned after claiming she lied about carrying out the killing to please her ‘master’ and ‘mistress.’
Jessica Lopez wrote a seven-page confession letter after the body of Brittany Killgore, 22, was found on April 17, 2012, near Lake Skinner in Riverside County, California.
Lopez subsequently recanted, claiming its contents were made up. A San Diego court ruled Tuesday that the convicted murderer will serve her life sentence. 

 Pregnant Dorothy Maraglino is seen [left], in June 2012 after her arrest for Brittany Killgore’s murder. She was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to life in prison

Maraglino’s boyfriend Louis Perez [photo], was similarly convicted, receiving a life sentence. Prosecutors said Marine sergeant Perez, was the ‘sex master’ whose ‘unusual sexual fetishes’ led the trio to kidnap, rape and murder Killgore

Lopez, then 25 years old, had gone to a Ramada Inn hotel in San Diego and tried to kill herself, leaving behind the letter. She was found by medics and resuscitated, and then arrested.
Lopez’s letter let to the arrest of her ‘master’, Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Ray Perez, then 45, and his pregnant girlfriend Dorothy Maraglino, then 40, who Lopez described as her ‘mistress.’
The trio were in a three-way ‘throuple’ relationship that saw Lopez wear a dog collar and eat from a dog bowl.

22-year-old Army wife Brittany Killgore [photo], was lured and abducted by Marine Sgt. Louis Perez, who she knew through her husband Cory Killgore, who was also a Marine

Their victim Brittany Killgore was also married to a Marine. Her husband Cory Killgore was a Marine was deployed to Afghanistan at the time.
The 22-year-old who was acquainted with Perez and Maraglino through her husband, had filed for divorce just days before she disappeared, while Cory was still serving oversea.
She was packing up her belongings to move home to Missouri when Perez approached her and offered to help if she would go on a dinner cruise with him.
Perez then abducted Killgore and forced her into a sexual bondage and torture session before she was strangled and dumped in the ditch.

Brittany and Cory Killgore. He was in Afghanistan when she was murdered: she had filed for divorce two weeks before her death

The trio of Louis Perez, 45, Dorothy Maraglino, 40, and Jessica Lopez, 25, were convicted in 2015 of Killgore’s murder. All were sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Despite her earlier confession leading to her conviction, Lopez wanted to take advantage of a 2018 law change which ruled that accomplices who were not the actual killers or who did not play a significant role in the killing would not be charged with murder.
Eleven years later Now 36 years old, Lopez last week testified to her version of what happened.
Lopez last week changed her story, and told a judge she had not participated in the killing, but wrote the confession because she was under orders from her ‘master’ and ‘mistress’.
Her attorney, Sloan Ostbye, told the court last week that Lopez was a willing ‘slave’, and wrote the confession letter to try and spare her ‘master’ and ‘mistress.’
‘She was manipulated, used and told to take responsibility for the crime,’ Ostbye argued.
Lopez told the court: ‘Slaves don’t ask questions. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true.’

Jessica Lopez is pictured in June 2012 speaking to her lawyer in court

Lopez said she and Maraglino were at a grocery store while Perez kidnapped Killgore, but had forgotten her wallet so drove home to get it, and found a ‘distracted’ Perez.
Lopez returned to the store, and Perez texted Maraglino to come home.
The two women returned home, and Maraglino went into the house and told Lopez to wait in the car.
Lopez said she waited in the car, then took the grocery bags and went into the garage, which had been converted to her bedroom.
In the room she saw a woman on her knees, with her head on the floor and her face turned away.
Lopez said the woman had tape wrapped around her head.
Lopez said Perez and Maraglino were also in the room, talking, and ordered Lopez upstairs.
She obeyed and spent the evening alone watching a movie.
The next day, Perez ordered her to help dispose of Killgore’s body.

Brittany Killgore was forced by Perez and Maraglino into a BDSM session, while Lopez was upstairs, Lopez now says

Ostbye argued Lopez, as a willing sex slave, was brainwashed by Perez and Maraglino.
She ate out of a dog bowl, wore a collar, and participated in their bondage, discipline, dominance and submission sessions.
‘She was willing to be cut, tattooed, eat out of bowls, even willing to kill herself,’ said Ostbye.
‘She was so controlled and brainwashed, she did whatever she was told to do.’
However, on Tuesday, the judge decided Lopez was a major participant in the killing, and so the conviction should stand.
‘He had an understanding of the lifestyle between these participants, the BDSM lifestyle and the violence that was inflicted in the home,’ said Patrick Espinoza, chief deputy district attorney of San Diego, explaining the judge’s decision.
‘And he was able to use that evidence to make a conclusion that she was not only a major participant, but she also had a reckless disregard for human life.’
Maraglino has also petitioned to have her murder conviction vacated under the new law, 10 News reported. A court date for her hearing has not been set.
Espinoza, the prosecutor, argued to the judge that Lopez acted with reckless indifference. He said her narrative of events after she returned from the grocery store, that she stayed upstairs, clueless, is not reasonable.
She “knew what her co-defendants were all about. She was aware of the degree of violence her co-defendants inflicted on others.” Espinoza sad.
Although Lopez was not convicted at trial of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, unlike Perez and Maraglino, the prosecutor noted that the jury that convicted Lopez of kidnapping and torture, also “found she was a major participant” in the murder by finding true a special circumstance allegation.
Espinoza also pointed to the convicts own writing about a violent abduction fantasy, a piece she wrote well before Killgore’s murder, as state-of-mind evidence.
“She is trying to avoid responsibility, blame others and point fingers at her co-defendants,” Espinoza said, pointing out that there is a second theory that Lopez was the actual killer, given that she admitted as such in the detailed confession letter.