Posted on June 21, 2013

Two Ex-Marines Sentenced to Death After They Raped Iraq Vet’s Wife in Front of Him and Then Shot Couple in the Head

Kerry McDermott, Daily Mail (London), June 21, 2013

Two ex-Marines have been sentenced to death after they stormed the home of an Iraq veteran and his wife and shot the newly married couple dead.

Sgt. Jan Pietrzak, 24, was forced to watch as his wife Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26, was raped, before the couple were shot in the head by their attackers, according to court documents.

Jan and Quiana Pietrzak

Jan and Quiana Pietrzak

Emrys John, 23, and Tyrone Miller, 25, were both given the death penalty yesterday for their roles in the 2008 killings in Riverside County, California.

Miller Cox John

Tyrone Miller, Kevin Cox, and Emrys John

A third ex-Marine, Kevin Cox, 25, was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The three men–all former Marines–had stormed into the couple’s home in the French Valley neighbourhood as part of a robbery scheme, prosecutors said.

A jury in Riverside County recommended the death penalty for John and Miller yesterday, according to the LA Times.

Sgt Pietrzak was an Iraq war veteran who was stationed at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego.

His wife was a counsellor with an infant care programme in Riverside County.

The couple had been married for just two months.

Court documents revealed they were bound and gagged by their attackers, who lit a fire to destroy evidence in the wake of the killings.