Death penalty declined in case
Prosecutor seeks life in prison if indicted man is convicted in slaying.


By Lauren Pack

Staff Writer

Thursday, June 12, 2008

HAMILTON — A suspected illegal immigrant has been indicted on a murder charge after authorities said he forced himself on a 32-year-old Hamilton woman later found dead by a gunshot wound to the head.

A Butler County grand jury indicted Daniel Estrada-Lopez on an aggravated murder charge in the shooting death this month of Gloria Marie Applegate.

Applegate's nude body was found in an alley behind South 11th Street on early Sunday, June 1, hours after she was released from police custody after an arrest for disorderly conduct and open container. She had been shot in the head.

Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper said investigators believe Estrada-Lopez forced himself on Applegate and that resulted in her being shot.

"It's a pretty cold-blooded killing ... close range," Piper said. He added the office did consider seeking the death penalty in the case, but decided the aggravated murder charge is "the strongest and best charge." Estrada-Lopez faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Butler County Coroner Dr. Richard Burkhardt said autopsy results indicate there is evidence Applegate was sexually assaulted.

Estrada-Lopez, arrested June 5, was born in Mexico, is not a U.S. citizen and there is a federal immigration holder on him, according to Butler County Jail records. He also is wanted on several outstanding warrants through Hamilton Municipal Court.

Estrada-Lopez is scheduled to be arraigned at 10 a.m. today, June 12, before Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Patricia Oney. He is being housed in the Butler County Jail in lieu of a $1 million bond.

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