Brittany Killgore was a lonely young woman, packing up her things to move back home to Pennsylvania, when she got talked into going out with a man who soon killed her, according to a prosecutor who is calling witnesses this week in San Diego’s North County courthouse.

Brittany’s best friend, Elizabeth Hernandez, testified that she was the one who introduced Brittany to a strange assortment of characters living in a home in downtown Fallbrook – Louis Perez, 46, and Jessica Lopez, 25, and Dorothy Maraglino, 37. Starting in 2011, Elizabeth said she went to the home two or three times a week and saw dominatrix-slave relationships, and “they would just walk around without clothes,” and there was a “spider web thing on the wall” to which people were tied.

Louis Perez “was the Master of the house” and was called “Ivan;” he once joked that he could get rid of Brittany while the group was watching a crime show on television. Jessica Lopez was a “slave” and wore a dog collar and sometimes ate from a dog bowl. Dorothy was called “Mistress Dee” and was subservient to “Ivan,” but dominatrix to Jessica. Elizabeth testified today, March 11, 2013.

Elizabeth said that Dorothy and Jessica suggested to her that Brittany had been spending time with Elizabeth’s husband, “I think they were trying to make us fight.” Dorothy and Jessica also called Brittany names, “Because she was always with me, so they called her a disease.” Elizabeth explained that “I didn’t have any other friends” and she wanted someone to talk to, so she continued socializing at the strange home in Fallbrook. She said her husband didn’t approve and that he was over-protective.

It was a different friend who helped Brittany Killgore pack her things the afternoon of April 13, 2012. That friend, Channy Tal, said she was there when Louis Ray Perez unexpectedly came to Brittany’s apartment and tried to talk Brittany into going out with him. Ultimately Brittany was convinced when he promised five persons to help her move the next day, plus his girlfriend Dorothy spoke to Brittany by phone and reassured her that it was okay. This friend, Channy Tal, became suspicious when she got a one word text from Brittany’s cell phone, HELP; after trying for hours to reach Brittany, she contacted the Sheriff.

The body of 22-year-old Brittany Dawn Killgore was found April 17, 2012, in a remote area north of San Diego County. She was last seen with Louis Ray Perez the evening of April 13, 2012, according to investigators.

Brittany Killgore was married to a Marine reportedly deployed to Afghanistan at the time of her disappearance.

Louis Ray Perez, 46, was an active-duty Marine when he was arrested. He and co-defendants Jessica Lynn Lopez, 25, and Dorothy Maraglino, 37, all plead not-guilty to murder. They all face special circumstance allegations of conspiracy and kidnap and torture, which make them eligible for the death penalty.

The preliminary hearing will continue tomorrow, March 12, 2013, and details are expected to be revealed every day this week, before the Honorable Judge K. Michael Kirkman.

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