Ex-boyfriend charged with murder in death of Huntington Beach woman
A 41-year-old man has been charged with murder in the death of his former girlfriend, a Huntington Beach mother of three.
The Orange County district attorney’s office Monday also accused Jason Becher of Anaheim with a special-circumstances sentencing enhancement of lying in wait, according to Orange County Superior Court records.
If convicted, he would face a minimum sentence of life in state prison without possibility of parole, according to the district attorney’s office.
Becher was arrested Saturday in Grants Pass, Ore., after being sought as a suspect in the death of 50-year-old Marylou Sarkissian, whose body was found around 1 p.m. Friday when police did a welfare check at her home in the 9000 block of Litchfield Drive in Huntington Beach.
Becher is now in the custody of the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety, and the Orange County district attorney’s office is seeking his extradition.
The cause of Sarkissian’s death has not been released. Her autopsy is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday morning, according to the Orange County coroner’s office.
Becher and Sarkissian dated off and on for the past five years, according to Orange County Superior court documents and Sarkissian’s sister.
Becher had been previously incarcerated for violent crimes, and Sarkissian’s sister was granted a restraining order against him in September, court records show.
“As you all can imagine, our hearts are broken and we are still trying to process what happened,” Debra Zdrazil, Sarkissian’s sister, wrote on Facebook. “Thank you to all for reaching out with your kind words of love, support and prayers.”
Zdrazil did not immediately comment further.
According to court records, Becher pleaded guilty in 2001 to four counts of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury, false imprisonment and possession of marijuana for sale, all felony charges that originated in 1999.
He also pleaded guilty to making criminal threats, a misdemeanor.
He was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison, according to court records. It wasn’t clear how long he served.
In a separate case, Becher pleaded guilty in 2005 to inflicting corporal injury and to unlawful taking of a vehicle, both felonies. He was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison, court records show. It also wasn’t clear how long he served in that case.
Zdrazil filed two requests for restraining orders against Becher in July and August this year in Orange County Superior Court, shining a light on his troubled relationship with Sarkissian and her family.
The requests alleged that Becher had been harassing Zdrazil through texts and voicemails since June 28 and threatened to smear her reputation and pay someone to hurt her.
She indicated in the court papers that Becher owned or had access to a gun.
“He also has impersonated me by posting false advertisements about me on the Internet, causing strangers to harass me and bombard my phone with phone calls, texts and texts with offensive pictures,” Zdrazil wrote.
According to court records, Becher texted Zdrazil in June that Sarkissian owed him $1,600 and had cheated on him while she was away on a business trip.
In another text message, court documents state, he wrote: “I’m serious this is the bottom line. I’m not in town but you know how small the world is. I have friends in low places. I have all your address.
“Your sister better settle this matter are [sic] [expletive] is going to hit the fan.”
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
