WICHITA, Kan. (AP) When a young Valley Center mother drowned in 2003, police believed she was trying to rescue her daughter from a pool.
Now, prosecutors must show a judge they have enough evidence to prove that her death was premeditated murder. They allege Patricia Hughes’ death was perpetrated by the leader of a commune that lived off life insurance payouts of dead members.
A preliminary hearing is tentatively set Thursday for Daniel U. Perez in Hughes’ 2003 death. He is also charged with lying on life insurance applications, rape and other crimes.
His 31-year-old daughter, Windy Aleman, told The Associated Press that her father would not have hurt Hughes, who she says helped her father flee Texas before he was sentenced on child sex charges.
