Group Sustained By Victims’ Life Insurance Payouts

May 30--A woman testified that Daniel Perez "always pursued" her before she had a child with him at a Valley Center compound and that she hasn't spoken to him after he denied allegations that he had sex with others at the compound.

Perez was back in court this morning for a second day of his preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for him to go to trial on nearly 40 charges, including first-degree murder of a woman who lived at the compound where witnesses say he was the leader.

The woman who had the child with Perez, whom she knew as Lou Castro, said before the accusations that she thought Perez was "a genuine guy."

Eight witnesses testified Tuesday; today's testimony is expected to focus more on the death.

Perez faces a variety of charges, including sex crimes against children.

Perez, 52, is charged with first-degree murder in the 2003 death of Patricia Hughes, a 26-year-old mother and wife who lived at one of the houses that made up the rural compound north of Kechi. For years, her death was thought to have been an accidental drowning at a swimming pool on the property.

Authorities have not said how she died or laid out how they came to accuse Perez of killing her. Today's testimony is expected to deal more with her death.

According to court documents, Perez used aliases and false identification and had been a fugitive since 1997 from Texas, where he had been convicted of child-sex crimes.

A series of deaths in Kansas and other states -- all people associated with Perez and his traveling entourage -- has raised questions for years. According to a court document, there have been about a dozen deaths involving members of the group, who lived off life insurance payouts resulting from the deaths.

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