Guilty Verdict in Los Lobos Murder Trial

October 31 -- Gabriel Gomez was found guilty of the kidnapping and murder of his half-sister, Sandra Rosas, the late wife of Los Lobos member Cesar Rosas, today. A Pomona Superior Court jury found Gomez, a 40-year-old ex-convict, guilty of first-degree murder with special circumstances.

"This helped us out a little bit," a tearful Cesar Rosas told reporters. "We just kind of move on now. We just want to move on. [Gomez] didn't just hurt me. He hurt hundreds of people. I felt like I died … "

Sandra Rosas, 47, vanished on the night of Oct. 23, 1999, while her husband was on tour. Her daughters told police they arrived at her East Los Angeles home and found the door open and broken glass from her van in the driveway. One of them called her cellular phone and allegedly overheard Gomez say, "You can never leave me. I'm going to make mad, passionate love to you. I'm going to rape you. I'm going to strangle you."

Gomez was questioned the day of the disappearance, and investigators noticed fresh scratches on his body. Rosas' van, containing a mixture of blood from both Rosas and Gomez, was found several days after she went missing. The victim's body was never recovered.

Prosecutors at the trial described Gomez as a "loser in need," who preyed on Rosas' generosity and then turned on her when he "saw his meal ticket slipping away."

Gomez is due back in court on Nov. 16 for a court trial on his prior convictions and for a probation and sentencing hearing. Although the prosecution opted not to pursue the death sentence, Gomez faces life in prison without parole.