Jarka trial: Murrieta man described as “evil” and “trash” before sentencing

Even as Kelle Lee Jarka proclaimed his innocence, the Murrieta resident was called “evil” and described as “trash” for the murder of his wife, Isabelle.

Jarka’s brother-in-law, Bill Schafer, criticized Jarka’s conviction and predicted that he will one day be freed.

Jarka was then sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“I hope you feel like the piece of trash that you are,” Laura McGraw, Isabelle Jarka’s sister, told the court during Jarka’s sentencing hearing Friday. “You deserve to be along with your kind.”

The sentencing closed out an emotional case that started in April 2008 when Isabelle Jarka’s bloody body was found inside the family’s Murrieta home. Jarka has continued to proclaim his innocence, suggesting his wife of nearly 20 years was killed by an intruder and he was away on errands when she was attacked.

Prosecutors successfully argued Jarka, who was having financial problems, wanted to collect $1.3 million in life insurance on a policy he had taken out on his wife. The break-in, police said, was a set up and an attempt by Jarka to cover up his brutal attack on his wide. The prosecutor described Jarka as a man so enamored with his upper-middle-class lifestyle and position within his congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, that he was willing to sacrifice the life of his loving wife to maintain it.

One medical expert testified that Isabelle Jarka suffered almost a dozen blows to her head with a blunt object resulting in a fracture to her skull and injuries to her brain.

The nature of the crime and some of the circumstances surrounding the family drew national interest.

Through it all, Jarka maintained that he did not murder his wife, even as Judge Timothy Freer prepared to send him to prison for the rest of his life.

“We were married for 20 beautiful years,” Jarka told the judge, his voice breaking. “Isabelle and I dreamed of growing old together. That dream was taken from us.”

Jarka said he could not have committed the “heinous” crime against the woman he loved and that he prays that one day he will be exonerated. Jarka said his life will never be the same without his wife.

“I long for her smile, her touch, her smell, her love,” he said.

Jarka’s word would do little to comfort his wife’s family and friends, many who jammed one side of the courtroom.

McGraw said she misses her sister each day and called Isabelle a “wonderful and generous” person. She said Jarka, whom she described as a monster, destroyed many lives when he killed Isabelle.

Another sister, Maritza Trelak, called Jarka an animal and said the world is a dimmer place without Isabelle. She said the attack of her sister while she slept was the act of a coward and continues to impact her and her family.

“I am not the same person I used to be,” she said. “The brutal nature of her killing haunts me.”

There were words of support from two speakers, including Schafer, who is married to one of Jarka’s sisters. He continues to believe Jarka did not commit the murder and criticized the case against him, saying it was nothing more than circumstantial evidence and theory.

Those “are not fact,” he said. “There is still nothing to link him to the crime.”

Sadly, Schafer said, the person who committed the murder is “still out there.”

Schafer said he is proud of Jarka and that he has shown remarkable faith.

“One day he will be released,” Schafer said. “One day he will be cleared of those charges.”

Some of the harshest criticism came from Freer, a former prosecutor, who said Jarka’s actions were pure evil and there was no doubt he had committed the murder. He called the killing an act of “extreme cruelty” and that the evidence was overwhelming.

“The jury made the correct decision,” Freer said. “He did commit the murder.”

The judge said the case will be recalled by many people, from attorneys, family members, community leaders and others who will ask why it happened.

“It was evil,” he said. “Pure and simple.”

Tags: Bill Schafer, Isabelle Jarka, Jehovah's Witnesses, kelle lee jarka, Murrieta, SWRNN

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Courts, Crime, Local News, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.