California man was found guilty of three counts of murder and arson after he started a deadly wildfire while trying to burn the body of a woman he had killed.
Victor Serriteno, 33, pleaded no contest in exchange for a prison sentence of 73 years to life on Friday.
Serriteno killed Priscilla Castro, 32, whom he met on a dating app in August 2020.
While trying to burn Castro’s body days after the murder, on Aug. 18, 2020, Serriteno started a blaze in the Putah Creek Wildfire Area of Solano County.
The fire killed two people, 82-year-old Douglas Mai and 64-year-old Leon Bone, and destroyed hundreds of homes in northern Solano County.
“After killing Priscilla Castro, defendant Serriteno drove her up to the Putah Creek Wildfire off Highway 128 where he dumped her body,” DA Krisha Abrams said.
“Additional circumstantial evidence placed Serriteno in the area of Priscilla’s body at the time the Markley Fire was started”.
Abrams added that Serriteno caused “one of the most catastrophic fires in the history of Solano County”.
