2 given life sentence for New Year's killings

LOS ANGELES A jury recommended the sentence Monday at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bob Bowers ordered Matthew Ian Koontz, 36, and Jonathan Blackwell, 29, to return for sentencing April 8.

On Jan.6, Koontz and Blackwell were convicted of first-degree murder, in the killings of Raul Cruz, 31, and Jessica Cipriano, 17.

The victims were shot after Koontz and Blackwell broke into the victim's Koreatown apartment on Dec. 31, 2006. Micaela Estrada, Cruz's common-law-wife and Cipriano's mother was wounded in the attack.

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