Santa Paula Man Sentenced for 1993 Double Murder

By Agencies
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District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today that Everardo Meza Alamillo (DOB 08/24/69), of Santa Paula, was sentenced in Ventura County Superior Court to two consecutive terms of life without the possibility of parole plus 10 years in prison.

Alamillo was previously convicted by a jury on May 2, 2023, of two first-degree murder counts for the 1993 murders of his estranged wife, Adriana Meza, and her boyfriend, Armando Cauich Jr. On October 13, 1993, Alamillo went to visit his daughter at Ms. Meza’s home in Santa Paula. Ms. Meza allowed the visit because she wanted Alamillo to be a part of their daughter’s life.

Alamillo left and returned later that evening, parked his vehicle nearby, and waited with a loaded .22-caliber firearm. Alamillo eventually entered the home through a back door and walked into Ms. Meza’s bedroom. Alamillo shot her three times and Mr. Cauich Jr. twice while they lay in bed.

Alamillo’s 2- year-old daughter was asleep next to her mother when the victims were killed. Immediately after the murders, Alamillo fled the country. He was indicted in 1994 on two counts of murder, but he would not be arrested until November 2015, after being located in Mexico.

The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation worked closely with the FBI to bring Alamillo back to Ventura County to be held accountable for these murders. In July 2016, Alamillo was extradited to the United States to stand trial.

Senior Deputy District Attorney John Barrick, a member of the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Major Crimes Homicide Unit, prosecuted the case.

“I am so grateful to the Santa Paula Police Department, the District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation, and the FBI for investigating the case and never giving up on locating the defendant so that he could be held accountable for these two tragic murders,” Barrick said. “The Castanon and Cauich families have waited 30 agonizing years for this day. Now they can hopefully rest a little easier knowing that the man who has brought them so much pain will never be released from prison.”