Two men guilty of gang motivated double murder in Santa Barbara
Caleb Nguyen
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A jury found Angel Varela and Oscar Trujillo-Guttierez guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of premeditated and deliberate attempted murder, according to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
The jury also found special circumstances that both men committed multiple acts of murder and the special allegation that Varela discharged a firearm causing death, according to the SBCDAO.
The jury found true that both men were part of the Carpas gang, committed the murders for the benefit of the gang and other gang-related special allegations, according to the SBCDAO.
The two men drove with a juvenile from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara before attacking a group with a firearm on the 1200 block of Liberty Street, killing two men and hurting two other men on Jan. 3, 2021, according to the SBCDAO.
Santa Barbara Police later investigated the case before the juvenile was prosecuted. After a 2024 trial, the court found true that the juvenile committed two counts of first-degree murder amd two counts of premeditated and deliberate attempted murder for the gang’s benefit, according to the SBCDAO.
The jury found both Varela and Trujillo-Gutierrez guilty of assault likely to cause great bodily injury for an assault on September 19, 2022 while both men awaited trial in custody, according to the SBCDAO.
Sentencing is set for both men on March 24 at 1:30 p.m. where both men remain in custody without bail sentencing. Each man faces life in prison without possibility of parole, according to the SBCDAO.