District
Attorney Vern Pierson announces the conviction of Roy Allen Roth for the March
31, 2015, murder of his wife, Deborah Anne Roth. On August 1, 2016, the defendant
entered a plea of guilty to second degree murder and read a statement regarding
the circumstances of the murder in front of a courtroom filled with the friends
and family of Deborah Roth. Roy Allen
Roth will be sentenced to 15 years-to-Life on August 22, 2016, in Department 2
of the El Dorado County Superior Court.
On
April 3, 2015, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office received information that
Deborah Roth had not been in contact with her friends or family for several
days. When deputies made contact with
Roy Roth about his missing wife, he lied to the deputies and told them she had
walked away following an argument. After
contact with the defendant, El Dorado County Sheriff’s detectives conducted a
welfare check on the property off of Latrobe Road, where Roy and Deborah Roth
lived, and located the body of Deborah Roth in a shed on the property. Roy Roth admitted in his statement read before
the Honorable Judge Daniel Proud that he struck Deborah and choked her to death
during an argument on March 31, 2015.
Roy Roth then admitted that after killing Deborah he put her in the shed
and left her there while continuing to have contact with his family and
friends. Roy Roth admitted to continuing
to lie about Deborah’s whereabouts to his friends, family and law enforcement.
The case was investigated by the El Dorado
County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office, with assistance
from the California Department of Justice, and was prosecuted by District
Attorney Vern Pierson and Deputy District Attorney Jamie Pesce.
Addressing
this conviction, District Attorney Vern Pierson stated, “It is our hope that
this family can find some peace from knowing Mr. Roth has been held accountable
for his actions and has admitted his responsibility for the murder of his wife
and mother of his children. Further, our community at large should feel some
comfort in knowing the Sheriff's Deputies, Detectives and the District
Attorney's Investigators will use all known technology and investigative
techniques to tirelessly pursue justice.”