VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – On Monday, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that Antoine Nehme of Victorville was convicted of orchestrating the 2004 murder of Dennis Wood.
The jury found Nehme guilty of the following charges and the court system found true the following aggravating factors and special allegations:
Charges
PC 187(a)-Murder PC 182(a)(1)-Conspiracy to Commit a Crime PC 653f(b)-Solicitation of MurderSpecial Allegations and Aggravating Factors
PC 190.2(a)(1)-Murder for Financial Gain CRC 4.421(a)(1)-Crime Involved Great Violence CRC 4.421(a)(3)-Victim was Vulnerable CRC 4.421(a)(4)-Defendant Induced Another to Participate CRC 4.421(a)(8)-Manner in which the Crime was Carried Out Indicates Planning, Sophistication, or Professionalism CRC 4.421(a)(11)-Defendant Took Advantage of a Position of TrustOn April 16, 2004, deputies were conducting a welfare check at Wood's home when they discovered his body lying in the doorway with a large pool of blood near his head stated a press release Monday from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
An autopsy later showed he had been shot twice in the head and once in the chest shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, the case went cold for several years until investigators uncovered a financial motive for the murder.
Wood owned a prepaid phone card business and had given Nehme $28,700 in cash for "an unknown business venture" detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Nehme owned a gas station in Ojai at the time and had purchased prepaid phone cards from Wood, but arranged for Wood to be murdered to remove his debt explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, a break in the case came in February 2010 when a person in an unrelated murder case in Los Angeles shared that his co-defendant -Alex Bracamonte- had killed Wood on Nehme's order.
Bracamonte, who worked for Nehme at his Ojai gas station, later confessed to murdering Wood and shared details of the crime that only the killer would know during an interview with deputies on August 23, 2023, stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
The Ventura County District Attorney's Office detailed that Bracamonte was already serving time for a 2006 Los Angeles murder when he was charged with the murder of Dennis Wood.
Bracamonte pled guilty to the murder on May 8, 2024, and later testified against Nehme stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
"I am deeply grateful to the jury for convicting the defendant and to the Ventura County Sheriff’s detectives who never gave up on this case," said Senior Deputy District Attorney John Barrick. "Thanks to their tireless efforts—especially lead detectives Gerardo Cruz and Erik Hernandez—we secured the evidence needed to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt. After two decades, they made justice possible for Dennis Wood’s family."
Bracamonte is currently scheduled to be sentenced for Wood's murder on April 30 of this year noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Nehme is scheduled to be sentenced on May 20, 2025, in courtroom 26 of the Ventura County Superior Court and he remains in custody without bail and faces a potential life sentence without the opportunity of parole.
Antoine Nehme of Victorville convicted of ordering 2004 murder of Moorpark man he owed money News Channel 3-12.
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