Four Marines Confess to Torturing & Murdering Their Sergeant & His Wife

[thedrifter]

Four Marines Charged With Killing Fellow Marine, Wife, Have Arraignments Reset

Posted: Nov 6, 2008 05:45 PM

Updated: Nov 7, 2008 11:54 AM

KESQ.com News Services

Four Camp Pendleton Marines accused of robbing and killing a Marine Corps sergeant and his wife in their Temecula home appeared in court Friday afternoon, but arraignment was postponed so they could be assigned lawyers.

Lance Cpl. Kesaun Sykes, 21, Lance Cpl. Emrys Justin John, 18, Lance Cpl. Tyrone Miller, 20 and Pvt. Kevin Darnell Cox, 20, appeared before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Stephen Sillman.

However, Deputy Public Defender Renee Rupp said her office had a conflict, and the judge assigned the conflict defense lawyers' office to the case.

Sillman ordered everyone back to court Nov. 20 to give the CDL time to appoint individual attorneys for the suspects.

The four were arrested Sunday, following a three-week investigation into the deaths of Sgt. Janek Pawek Pietrzak, 24, and his wife, Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26, who were both shot in the head.

The victims, who were bound and gagged and shot multiple times, were found Oct. 15 in the family room of their Temecula home in the 31000 block of Bermuda Avenue, where they had lived for about four months.

The Marines each face two counts of murder and one count of rape with a foreign object, along with special circumstance allegations of committing more than one offense and committing murder during a robbery.

John, the alleged shooter, additionally faces firearm and great bodily injury allegations.

The special circumstance allegations make the defendants eligible for the death penalty if convicted. The District Attorney's Office will decide later whether to pursue death sentences.

According to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant filed by sheriff's Investigator Gary LeClair, the men all admitted going to the couple's home to rob them.

"Miller admitted that he went to the residence with John, Cox and `Psycho' (Sykes)," LeClair wrote. "Miller further admitted that he forced entry into the residence by pointing a shotgun at Janek Pietrzak."

According to the affidavit, Miller also told investigators that he helped tie up the couple, but it was Sykes who allegedly sexually assaulted Quiana Pietrzak, along with John and Cox.

Miller alleged fingered John as the killer.

The court documents allege that Sykes, called "Psycho" by the others, "admitted that he cut Quiana's clothes off, helping to tie her hands behind her back, and opening her legs so that Miller, John, and Cox could sexually assault her."

Sykes also allegedly admitted taking property from the home.

Cox allegedly told investigators that he helped carry property from the home but that it was Sykes, John and Miller who sexually assaulted the woman.

In the Camp Pendleton Marine barracks where John lived, investigators found shoes matching an impression found on the body of one of the victim, according to court documents.

Investigators also found shoes in Cox's barracks with a tread that matched an impression left at the crime scene, and property that came from the Pietrzak home was found in Sykes' possession, the papers state.

Janek Pietrzak, originally from Brooklyn, was part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at the base near Oceanside and served in Iraq from July 2005 to February 2006. At the time of his death, he was working as a helicopter mainframe mechanic with the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron.

Mike Alvarez, spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, to which the suspects and victim are attached, said Cox and Miller also worked in the sergeant's squadron, and John worked in the same aircraft group as Pietrzak, Cox and Miller.

Sykes worked in the First Marine Division as an administrative clerk, according to Alvarez, who said none of the defendants had served in Iraq.

Pietrzak enlisted in the Marines on March 7, 2003, and was promoted to sergeant at the beginning of this year. His awards included the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, U.S. Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and a Certificate of Commendation and Letter of Appreciation.

Ellie

[Tegan]

augh! i hate this. those POS Marines have never even set foot on a deployment! ever.

[thedrifter]

'KILLER' MARINE'S REVENGE MOTIVE

By ANGELA MONTEFINISE and BRAD HAMILTON


November 9, 2008 --

One of the four Marines charged in the slayings of a Brooklyn-born Iraq veteran and his wife may have had revenge on his mind, a close friend of the accused triggerman told The Post.

She said alleged ringleader Pvt. Emrys John, 18, got along with their commanding officer, slain Sgt. Jan Pietrzak, 24, but John's co-defendant, Lance Cpl. Tyrone Miller, 20, complained of being mistreated by him.


"John told me the sergeant was getting on Miller for the little things, and I guess they got sick of it. I feel they just went over there to scare them, not to kill," said the friend, who asked not to be identified.


Police say the four suspects confessed to robbing Jan and his wife, Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, of her engagement ring and his digital camera before sexually assaulting her and shooting them in the head on Oct. 15 in Riverside County, Calif.

Ellie

[Integrity57]

Too bad they don't still do execution by firing squad any more.

[Zulu 36]

Well, in the balance of things, I read where six Pendleton Marines on liberty discovered their motel on fire, and went door to door waking everyone and even carrying one elderly man to safety. No one was hurt in the fire as a result of their actions.

[thedrifter]

'Nobody deserves death like this,' says DA in torture, slay of Marine, wife

BY NANCY DILLON and CORKY SIEMASZKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Monday, November 10th 2008, 1:03 AM

A stack of wedding thank-you cards was waiting to be mailed when four Marines allegedly burst into the California home of Brooklyn-bred Marine Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak and his new bride, Quiana.

By the time the bullets hit their brains, the newlyweds had been bound and gagged, forced to endure sadistic torture - and she had been violated repeatedly, court records show.

"Nobody deserves a death like this, least of all good, young people with bright futures," Riverside County prosecutor Daniel Delimon said.

Investigators say the motive for the shocking murders was robbery, but neither Pietrzak's mother in Brooklyn nor his in-laws near San Diego believe that.

Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak's father said he's heard talk the Marines - all of whom are black - visited pain on his gorgeous 26-year-old daughter because she was black and Pietrzak was white.

Investigators are also checking whether one of the accused Marines, Lance Cpl. Tyrone Miller, had ties to the violent Crips gang. The Pietrzaks had been married for just two months when they were murdered on Oct. 15. Their bodies were at the morgue when the wedding photos they planned to send with the thank-you cards arrived.

After allegedly killing the Pietrzaks, the four made off with Quiana's engagement ring and wedding gifts. Some of the stolen items were found at the accused Marines' barracks at Camp Pendleton, Calif., police said.

None of the suspects has entered a plea.

With Alison Gendar and Kerry Burke

Ellie

[RON 68]

they are not Marine's, and i will not post my feelings on this here. remember the opening vill scene in Firebase Gloria?that comes to my mind for justice in this case.

what a thing to read on the big day,233rd. Semper-Fi.Ron 68

[jarheadweb]

I seem to remember that hanging is still a part of the Corps punishment for murder, escpecially since these acts were committed during a recognized war. Can we add drawing and quartering to that list as well.
My condolences to his family.

[dpwisotsky]

These 4 pieces of crime should suffer the same punishment as they gave to those 2 innocent victims. You 4 were never worthy of the title "Marine", but you will certainly remember how it feels when judgement day comes!!!

[Enigmatic]

Burn 'em!

[rheinmark187]

The news keeps on getting worse and worse. I see plenty of non-marines saying that the Marine Corps is overrated and doesn't deserve its place as the most honored branch. With all that's gone on lately, I have to wonder myself if the Marine Corps is just most elite in it's PR.

But something to consider. Has anyone noticed that with the exception of the puppy tossing and those guys who killed their squadmate in Camp Pendelton, these have all been support MOS, non-deployed Marines? Lauterbach's Murderer, the prostitution and meth ring murderers in Oki, the SNCO's charged with rape in Oki, These 4 and the guy who killed his army wife, have been rear echelon. I've stopped counting how many people have gone on about "ptss/ptsd causing this" who were just plain wrong.

I remember when I got back from Iraq in 05 to learn that some remf battalion had used my floor as a site for prostitution OF FEMALE MARINES AND SAILORS and thinking wth?? These folks don't know how good they have it, yet can't seem to keep out of trouble.

[sempiternal]

...rape with an instrument.

After reading those news reports it sounds like there isn't anything they didn't do; multiple rapes, torture, sexual abuse, serious bodily injury, gagging, tied up and executed the couple, shooting them in the back of their heads, and then setting their home set on fire.

This was no robbery! That's completely obvious.

And yet, the idiot police keep saying it was financially motivated - bull.

If there is one time the police need to do their job right, this is it! And yet, the idiots are running around saying in all the news reports it was just a robbery!

[sempiternal]

I seem to remember that hanging is still a part of the Corps punishment for murder, escpecially since these acts were committed during a recognized war. Can we add drawing and quartering to that list as well.
My condolences to his family.

Nothing could legally be done to these four killers that was ever even close to what they did. Giving them the death sentence is letting them off easy.


The Corps should make an example of them though, there's no room for any leniency in such despicable crimes against one of their own. The punishment should be harsh and swift.

These slimeball investigators calling it "financially motivated," should all be immediately fired!

[Captain Kirk]

They should let the Marines from tha Sgt's platoon take these murderers out for a stroll at Pendelton. They would most certainly just vanish, never to be heard from again. Marine Justice!

[BR34]

Is that their rank after being reduced or is it their rank when they commited the crimes? A couple of them were basically RIGHT out of bootcamp!