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Couple sentenced to life without parole for kidnapping and killing former Las Vegas man in Carson – Daily Breeze

The mother of a former Las Vegas man who was murdered by a man and woman called the woman a “psychopath” and said she deserved everything she came for at the couple's sentencing on Monday, August 19, in Superior Court in Torrance.

Maricela Mercado, 45, of Redondo Beach, and Roman Cerratos, 44, of Hawaii, were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the kidnapping and murder of 32-year-old Jeffrey Appel, whose body was found upside down in the passenger seat of his own car in Carson in April 2019.

Mercado and Cerratos, who were formerly married, were convicted of murder and kidnapping after a week-long trial in June. Jurors also found the weapons allegations against Cerratos to be true.

During the trial, prosecutors claimed that Cerratos stabbed and shot the victim, but they also claimed that Mercado, who was with him at the time of Appel's death, was the one who set things in motion.

Appel and Mercado met in Las Vegas and began dating some time after Cerratos split up, according to evidence and testimony during the trial. They moved to Redondo Beach to seek work opportunities, and Appel got a job at an accounting firm in Manhattan Beach.

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Maricela Mercado, now 45, of Redondo Beach. (Photo courtesy of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department)

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Appel's family members who testified in court Monday described Mercado, whom they referred to as “Mari,” as evil and manipulative who hired Cerratos to murder him “because you no longer had control over him,” said Paula Marcoly, Appel's mother.

They described Appel as an educated, thoughtful man who was kind, loving, funny and loved by his nieces and nephews.

“No one in our family has ever been attacked, let alone murdered. You slaughtered my son,” Marcoly said. Turning to Cerratos, she added, “Mari manipulated the whole thing and you fell for it.”

Toni Daffer, Appel's sister, said in court that Mercado had “manipulated my brother for years and used Roman as a pawn.”

“As punishment, he was robbed of his phone and thrown out of the house, only to be let back in on his next payday,” she said.

Mercado's attorney, Steven Kwon, declined to comment after the hearing.

Cerratos' attorney Nancy Sperber said she did not know Mercado's version of events that Appel's family told in court, but said her client had also been manipulated by Mercado.

“That doesn't excuse his actions,” she said. “He was obsessed.”

The motive for the attack was never mentioned during the trial, but video and blood evidence linked the former couple to the murder.

Prosecutors said during the trial that Cerratos and Mercado kidnapped Appel and took him in his own white Audi sedan to the parking lot of a children's hospital on Torrance Boulevard west of Prairie Avenue. Appel was stabbed to death in that parking lot, prosecutor Matthew Pfeffer told the jury. Torrance police later found one of Appel's shoes and a blood-stained knife on the ground. The blood matched DNA from Appel and Cerratos.

The couple parked the car with Appel in it in the 400 block of Carson Plaza Drive, Pfeffer said. Along the way, Appel was shot three times. He was found hours later by coworkers arriving for work. Blood traces found on the car also matched Cerratos.

The case gained widespread attention a few days later after Cerratos and Mercado fled to Mexico with Mercado's teenage daughter, prompting an Amber alert. Cerratos was found in Mexico two months later, while Mercado and her daughter were found three months after the murder. The daughter was reunited with her father.

Letters from Mercado and her daughter were read by Judge Kelly M. Kelley on Monday, but not aloud.

Mercado stood up, looked the family in the face and made a brief statement of condolences.

“As a mother, I understand your pain,” she said. “If I could have, I would have prevented it.”

“Nice try,” said one of Appel’s family members in response.

Outside court, Appel's family members said they were relieved after waiting more than five years and believed the verdict was fair.

Defense attorneys argued during the trial that the lack of blood evidence in the car suggested he sustained his injuries elsewhere and that the couple may have been trying to help him. Kwon said the weapons used in the attack belonged to Appel, likely indicating Appel was the original attacker that night.

The jury was divided and took barely more than a day to announce its verdicts.

Originally published:

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