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Man Sentenced To 2 Life Terms For Stabbing Sister-In-Law, Her Daughter To Death In 2010

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A 36-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to two consecutive terms of life in prison after pleading guilty to fatally stabbing his sister-in-law and her daughter in 2010.

Mario Estrada Ochoa pleaded guilty to the first-degree murders of Martha Camacho, 21, and her 6-year-old daughter, Valerie, on May 14, 2010 in their Canoga Park home. Ochoa also admitted the special circumstances of multiple murders and personally using a dangerous weapon, a knife.

Ochoa was immediately sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole plus two years.

In a statement read by his attorneys, Ochoa admitted to stabbing the mother and daughter after getting into an argument with Camacho over his marriage. Prosecutors say Ochoa stabbed Camacho 33 times, then dragged her body into her bedroom and tried to stage the crime as a sexual assault.

When Valerie saw him covered in blood and she asked him what he had done, he attacked her, prosecutors said. The young girl was stabbed 14 times and was nearly decapitated. Prosecutors say Ochoa then dumped Valerie's body behind a coach.

When Ochoa was arrested, he claimed his uncle, Manuel Carmona, was involved. Carmona was arrested and charged, but further investigation and DNA found there was no evidence connecting him to the murders. Carmona was later released and the charges dismissed.

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