Missing CSUF student trial: Closing arguments begin

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- Closing arguments began Tuesday in the trial of an Orange County man accused of killing his female roommate, who was about to graduate from Cal State Fullerton.

Prosecutors say Kwang Choi "KC" Joy killed 36-year-old Maribel Ramos, an Iraq war veteran, in May 2013.

"Maribel knew the defendant was capable of killing her and she wanted it documented," prosecutor Scott Simmons said.

Simmons told jurors to remember that the victim herself expressed fear in a tearful 911 call made just days before her murder.

"She's in such fear that she says, 'If he comes after me, I swear, I will kill him,' and, she makes it very clear, in self-defense," he said.

The prosecutor alleges 55-year-old Joy was in love with Ramos, but she didn't feel the same way.

Authorities suspect they got into a fight when he failed to come up with his share of the rent, and she told him he had to leave.

"He clearly wants to stay. Maribel was his life and the opportunity for him to be with the love of his life was coming to an end," said Simmons.

After Ramos disappeared, prosecutors allege Joy lied about her whereabouts. He told Eyewitness News in a previous interview he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

"She's my best friend, actually she's my only friend, only family member I have, so I miss her," he said in the May 2013 interview.

The court also saw photos of cuts on Joy's body.

Jurors also heard how Joy allegedly went to the library to search how long it takes for a body to decay. He also looked online at a map of the Santa Ana Mountains, where Ramos' body was eventually found in a shallow grave.

"This gentleman tried to misled the police, mislead the media, don't let him mislead you," Simmons said.