Some stories are so horrific that you think that they could only happen in movies. This story began in March 2007 when a man went fishing in a canal in San Francisco using a bow and arrow.
Brian Roller shot at a fleeting carp but missed. As the arrow sinking, he realized that he had something much bigger on the line. After hauling his catch out of the still water, he noticed that the arrow had pierced the side of a metal cooler.
Upon opening it, he soon realized that this was going to be the start of a very long day. There was a badly decomposed tiny body and a diaper. According to the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office coroner report, the infant had been wrapped in a dirty Winnie the Pooh blanket and, then, wrapped in plastic. The report also identifies that the skull of the infant was fractured. The remains belonged to a 1-month old baby boy.
Roller knew that he was looking at a human body but was hoping that it wasn’t. When he saw an officer at the scene began to cry, he knew for sure that the scene was as bad as he had initially thought.
It took 12 years before the baby’s identity was known. DNA for the child was run through an expanded FBI database last year, creating a match for Paul Perez. Perez served time in the 1990s for sexual assault. The baby was identified as Nikko Lee Perez, Paul Perez’s child.
Unfortunately, the case didn’t end there. The investigation got considerably more horrific. Nikko Perez had siblings that were missing, too.
Authorities have charged Paul Perez with premeditated murder – five counts to match the five infant children of his that he murdered.
It is unclear as to whether they found the bodies of the four remaining children or not. They could have been in the same canal, each with coolers of their own, or they could still be missing out there.
Paul Perez was 57 years old and a convicted sex offender. He had a criminal history that spanned 20 years. He was charged with the depths of his children born between the years of 1992 and 2001 according to authorities. These charges came on the same day that he was supposed to be released from a state prison on unrelated charges.
Yolo County Sheriff, Tom Lopez, refers to the case as “unspeakable evil.” He says that the case is disturbing because infants are the most vulnerable and innocent victims of all, and this case, unfortunately, involves five of them. The man killed his own children. With one being only one month old, it is unclear as to how old the other children were when he murdered them in cold blood only to stash their bodies away to prevent anyone finding out just what kind of hideous crimes he had committed.
There are still a number of things about the case that leaves questions. Investigators are trying to figure out how five infants went missing without anyone asking questions. Weren’t the children born in a hospital? Wouldn’t the mother have noticed that her children were missing? Perhaps the mother of the children is another missing body that the police haven’t uncovered yet.
Although there are plenty of questions still lurking, the man was arrested prior to being released from prison so that he could not do harm any longer. With the crimes committed being so horrible, it is very possible that Perez will face the death penalty.
Every now and then, there are cases that go cold. It allows the person responsible for the evil to roam the streets. Thankfully, this case was able to get the attention that it needed. No child should ever be killed, particularly in such a cruel and inhumane way. Luckily, investigators decided not to let the case go. By matching the DNA to Paul Perez, they were able to catch him and learn about the other missing children.
If more investigators were to stay committed to cases such as these, it would enable more murderers to be found and removed from the streets once and for all. The police department did not identify the unrelated charges that had Perez currently in jail. However, with the new evidence that was shared to establish five counts of premeditated murder, he’ll never be able to see the light of day ever again.
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