A Thousand Oaks man was convicted of nine felonies Tuesday in connection with the torture and murder of his girlfriend on Christmas Eve 2021.
Saul Nava, 24, was convicted of the following charges:
First-degree murder
Torture
Kidnapping
Aggravated mayhem
Assault with a deadly weapon
Possession of child pornography
Three counts of inflicting corporal injury to current or former cohabitant
He’ll face more special allegations on Wednesday, when a judge will decide on special allegations such as that the crime involved great violence and that the victim was vulnerable, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
On Dec. 24, 2021, the then-21-year-old Nava called 911 “after days of beating and torturing” Alisen Takacs-Escobar, 24, at their shared apartment in Thousand Oaks.
“Deputies with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office found the deceased victim with injuries all over her body,” the release said. “She suffered from extensive bruising, the top of her head had a large laceration, and degrading words were newly tattooed on the center of her chest.”
Nava was taken into custody at that point, and deputies found “tattoo equipment, baseball bats, a hammer, and a screwdriver which were used on Ms. Takacs-Escobar.” Also found was Nava’s cell phone, on which there were “videos…taken hours before Ms. Takacs-Escobar’s death, show[ing] Nava taunting her and displaying no concern for her worsening condition,” prosecutors said.
Furthermore, the investigation into the death of Takacs-Escobar revealed a second victim who also dated Nava.
“Nava met this additional victim when they were teenagers and their relationship escalated quickly,” prosecutors said. “Nava brought her into his home, confined her to a closet, and beat her. At one point, she tried to run away but Nava found her and threatened her with a knife until she got into his vehicle.”
When that girl became pregnant at age 17, Nava “punched her in the stomach and convinced her to get an abortion.”
He also punched her in the face, choked her and secretly filmed her having sex with him, resulting in the child pornography charge.
The abuse only ended in the summer of 2021 when Nava started dating Takacs-Escobar.
“Although this result cannot erase the immeasurable pain the defendant inflicted on the victims and their families, we hope that this brings some measure of closure to see him held accountable for his horrific crimes,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney David Russell.
A Thousand Oaks man was convicted of nine felonies Tuesday in connection with the torture and murder of his girlfriend on Christmas Eve 2021. Saul Nava, 24, was convicted of the following charges: He’ll face more special allegations on Wednesday, when a judge will decide on special allegations such as that the crime involved great […]
Leave a Reply