gazette.com [top]
Address:http://www.gazette.com/daily/top2.html August 23, 2001
Jeremy Meyer covers general assignments and may be reached at 476-1623
or [email protected]
Rapist found guilty on all counts
By Jeremy Meyer/The Gazette

The man prosecutors called every woman’s worst nightmare likely will
spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury on Wednesday found him
guilty of three sexual attacks against women in Colorado Springs and
Security.

Anthony Peralez, 41, was found guilty of 51 charges. A hearing on Aug.
30 will determine whether he is a habitual criminal, which would
quadruple his sentence into hundreds of years.

“We’re glad we had an opportunity to get this guy off the streets for
good,” said Deputy District Attorney John Newsome.

Prosecutors said Peralez was responsible for panic that spread through
Colorado Springs after three women older than 50 were attacked in their
homes.

From September 1999 to September 2000, a masked intruder broke in
through the rear of the women’s homes, beat them, raped them and stole
items. He forced two of the women to bathe to remove evidence and used a
household cleaning solution on another. All the women lived alone.

The similar cases led police to call public forums to quell community
concerns and to publish a sketch of the attacker’s features.

Authorities didn’t get a break until the night of Nov. 18, when
72-year-old Jean Zamarripa, who lived alone, fired two bullets into an
intruder at her Knob Hill home.

Police followed a path of parked cars that had been damaged by a car
speeding from her house and found Peralez with bullet wounds at the
scene of a car wreck.

Authorities tested the DNA on one of the bullets at Zamarripa’s house
and matched it to DNA found at the rape scenes.

Prosecutors said Peralez fit the description of the attacker: the same
size, with the same scars and the same hair color. Gloves, a ski mask
and a flashlight described by the victims were found in his possession.

During the trial, Peralez’s defense attorneys suggested the descriptions
were off, that their client had an alibi for the first attack and that
he would often carry items like gloves and a mask because he worked as a
tree-trimmer. They said he did break into Zamarripa’s house but not to
attack her. And they questioned the reliability of DNA evidence.

The jury didn’t buy it. They found Peralez guilty of every charge,
including the attack on a 51-year-old Security woman on Sept. 12, 1999;
the attack on a 74-year-old Colorado Springs woman on Aug. 6, 2000; and
the attack on a 56-year-old Colorado Springs woman on Sept. 2, 2000.
They also found him guilty of breaking into Zamarripa’s home with the
intent to inflict bodily injury.

Zamarripa skipped most of the trial because she didn’t want to hear “the
hurt and pain that the girls went through.” But she was in the courtroom
Wednesday, hugging the victims and their families after the verdicts
were announced.

She said she still has a gun and a dog and is thankful to her friend
Carl Duncan for persuading her to keep a weapon in her home. “Were it
not for him, I might not be here,” Zamarripa said.

She called the other victims “three wonderful and brave women. I’m
hopeful now they will go forward and not look back. This horrible ordeal
is over. Thank God.”

And she told others to be prepared.

“The only thing I could say to anyone is you can never let your guard
down … at any age.”
Jurors deliberated about a day, having gotten the case late Tuesday
afternoon and returning their verdicts late Wednesday afternoon.

After Judge Theresa Cisneros read the verdicts, Peralez turned to his
sisters, who were sitting in the front row, and breathed a heavy sigh
before walking to a holding cell with sheriff’s deputies. He will stay
at the El Paso County jail until his sentencing hearing. Then he will go
to prison.

His attorneys weren’t available for comment. Newsome and fellow
prosecutor Christian Schwaner called the verdict the best possible
result.

“He was preying on the most vulnerable segment of our society,” Newsome
said. “You had a lot of women in fear because of this man.
“It’s great we caught him. His victims are extremely grateful of that.
But it’s not over. They’ll be dealing with this for the rest of their
lives.”

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