By james art Gory and disturbing details have emerged in the case against a Costa Mesa man accused of killing his girlfriend and dumping her body in a trash can.
Daniel Allen Aldrich, 49, allegedly strangled his girlfriend, Julie Ann Sanetra, 38, after they got into an argument following a drunken night out on Oct. 20, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
He slashed her wrist with a folding knife, according to the office, then continued watching television and went to bed as her dead body lay on the couch. Prosecutors say he woke up the next day and stuffed her body in the trash before packing up and heading to his mother’s house in Glendale.
He was charged Monday with one felony count of murder and one felony count of use of a personal weapon in the death, according to the district attorney’s office. If convicted of the charge, he faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in prison.
“Julie Sanetra did not deserve to be strangled and stuffed into a trash can like a piece of trash,” said Dist. Adv. Todd Spitzer in a statement. “The callousness of this crime shocks the conscience and we will do everything we can to get justice for Julie and her loved ones.”
On Oct. 22, landscapers who had been hired to mow Aldrich’s lawn found Sanetra’s body partially hanging from trash on the side of his house in the 1900 block of Maple Avenue and contacted the Costa Mesa Police Department, according to the department and district attorney’s office.
Aldrich was arrested by Costa Mesa police that evening at his mother’s Glendale house in the 3700 block of El Lado Drive, according to police and the office.
He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 19, according to the office.
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the LA Times and beyond delivered to your inbox six days a week.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.