Seven More Years For WOC Killer In Assault Case

SNOW HILL – Convicted killer Roberto Murillo, sentenced to life in prison in January for the stabbing death of a West Ocean City woman in her home in April 2008, was back in court this week to face a battery of charges alleging sexual assault and abuse on his 16-year-old niece prior to the murder.

In January, just hours after being sentenced to life in prison for the stabbing death of popular local woman Cecilia Dea Parker, Murillo, now 29, of Honduras, was served with a long list of new charges alleging sexual assault and abuse on his 16-year-old niece over a two-year period dating back to October 2006. Murillo, now serving his life sentence in the North Branch Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Md., appeared in Circuit Court this week and was sentenced to an additional seven years for his latest conviction.

The sexual assault and child abuse charges stemmed from an interview with the victim conducted by a Worcester County Bureau of Investigation (WCBI) detective and a county social worker just 10 days before Murillo’s sentencing hearing on the murder conviction in January. In the interview, the victim told investigators the first incident happened in October 2006 when Murillo pulled the young girl onto his lap and attempted to kiss her and sexually assault her.

According to the victim, a similar incident occurred in August 2007 when Murillo also sexually assaulted her. In that incident, the victim told investigators she was able to thwart his advances. Finally, in March 2008, another alleged incident occurred just one month before the murder that perhaps foreshadowed the terrible incident that had yet occurred.

According to the victim, on March 1, Murillo knocked on her bedroom door, and when she opened it, he pushed her to the floor and placed his hand over her mouth. When the victim struggled, Murillo allegedly placed a knife to her throat and said he “would kill her” if she continued to make noise. According to police reports, the victim’s parents then came in the room at which time Murillo hid in a closet while the victim fled the room.

Just days after Murillo was charged with first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and attempted second-degree child abuse, his brother Luis and sister-in-law Josefina were both charged with three counts of accessory after the fact for allegedly knowing about his advances against their daughter and not reporting it or covering it up. In May, Luis and Josefina Murillo had the charges against them placed on the stet, or inactive, docket.