A California man who tortured his girlfriend on Christmas Eve and "wanted her to feel the pain" because he was convinced she was cheating on him was convicted in her brutal slaying following a day of jury deliberation.
In addition to first-degree murder, Saul Nava, 24, was also found guilty of kidnapping, torture, aggravated mayhem, and a slew of other charges in connection with the death of 24-year-old Alisen Takacs-Escobar at their Thousand Oaks, California apartment on Dec. 24, 2021, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.
Nava took the stand during his trial that began Sept. 26.
"I was angry because I felt betrayed," he testified, according to the Thousand Oaks Acorn. "And because I felt betrayed, I wanted her to feel the pain that I felt."
Nava said he feared she planned to end things with him after he found flirtatious text messages between Takacs-Escobar and her ex-boyfriend.
Nava, who also acknowledged tattooing his initials and full name on K.M., testified that he was responsible for tattooing the six derogatory words on Takacs' chest. He explained that his intention was to eventually incorporate more positive words as a symbol of her personal growth.
As part of the torture inflicted on the victim, Nava also whipped her with a belt.
"The more you hurt, the less likely you are to repeat the action," Nava said, according to prosecutors, the paper reported.
Nava claimed the Takacs-Escobar gave him permission to beat her with a baseball bat after he felt the belt wasn't inflicting enough pain.
He documented the torture session in four videos he said he intended to show her if she cheated on him in the future.
"I shouldn't have lied to you," a bloodied Takacs-Escobar said in one clip, according to the outlet.
"I'll hold your word to it to see if it's true because you told me a million times you weren't going to do this (expletive) again and look where you are now," he responded.
The victim eventually became unresponsive and Nava tried to treat her with pain medication and an ice pack before attempting CPR and calling 911.
"I cared about her and her life," Nava said, per the outlet. "There were times when I hated her, but I still cared about her."
Nava will be sentenced Dec. 4. He faces up to life in prison.
