Guilty plea in Salinas double murder case

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-parent:””;mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin-top:0in;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0in;line-height:107%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:”Calibri”,sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} A man accused of shooting and killing two people and hurting two others in Salinas in August of 2015 has pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

According to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, 51-year-old Samuel Ejaz pled guilty to two counts of first degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, spousal abuse and enhancements for personal use of a firearm.

Investigators said the Garden Grove man shot and killed his estranged wife’s aunt and uncle near the Social Security office on August 27, 2015. He also tried to kill his wife and her cousin.

The district attorney’s office released more details about what led to the shooting and said it happened as the result of an ongoing marital dispute.

Ejaz’s wife came to the United States from the Philippines just months before the two were married in March 2015. Ejaz then attempted to control every aspect of her life which led his wife to escape to a women’s shelter. She later returned, but after he made threats of buying a gun to kill her, she left again and enlisted in the United States Navy. Ejaz then began a plot to kill his wife. He bought a handgun and stalked his wife as she went through boot camp and technical training. He emailed and called her as well as tried to contact her through her aunt and uncle who lived in Salinas.

Ejaz learned from Navy personnel that she was scheduled for a two week furlough on August 25, 2015 and he guessed she would visit her family in Salinas.

Ejaz then checked into a motel near her aunt and uncle’s house and then drove by their house conducting surveillance. The next morning he followed them to the Social Security office in Salinas and blocked their car from leaving.

He pointed the gun at his wife who got out of the car to try and talk to him and shot at her twice, hitting her once in the back. His wife’s aunt got out of the car to help her and Ejaz shot at her three times, killing her. Ejaz then walked up to the car and fired his weapon two more times, killing his wife’s uncle and shot and injured his wife’s cousin.

A Good Samaritan who witnessed the shooting approached Ejaz who returned to his wife to talk to her as she was lying on the ground bleeding in the parking lot. The Good Samaritan convinced Ejaz to put down the gun and give up a second magazine loaded with more ammunition.

Ejaz was arrested and confessed to the crime. He told police he killed the aunt, uncle and tried to kill the cousin because they helped his wife “get away from him.”

The charges he faced made him eligible for the death penalty, but the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office decided not to pursue the death penalty instead determining that life without the possibility of parole was an appropriate disposition.

The district attorney’s office also said the victims’ family also did not want the death penalty, but instead for Ejaz to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Ejaz will be sentenced on April 14, 2017 to life without the possibility of parole.