Marco Antonio Cota Jr. sentenced to 75 years to life in prison for murder and mutilation of a body in November

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – On Wednesday, San Luis Obispo County Prosecutor Dan Dow announced that Marco Antonio Cota Jr. was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison plus 21 years for the murder of Rick Fowler in November 2021 in a campsite.

Cota Jr. was also required to register as a sex offender, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office added in a news release regarding the sentencing.

On the evening of November 20, 2021, in the Bianchi Open Space area, Cota Jr. and Rick Fowler, 64, were involved in a verbal argument, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office said.

Cota Jr. followed Fowler to his campsite where he beat him to death, then pierced Fowler's body in various ways with several wooden sticks, including Fowler's rectum, the District Attorney's Office detailed. San Luis Obispo County.

According to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office, when Cota Jr. was asked why he mutilated Fowler's remains, he responded, “he wanted to show you what evil looks like.”

On February 13, 2024, a San Luis Obispo County jury found Cota Jr. guilty of murder and mutilation of a corpse and Judge Cavello found true the special allegation that Cota Jr. had three prior convictions recoveries for felony or strike under California's three-strikes law. .

Cota Jr.'s prior convictions are a 1998 robbery conviction in Tulare County, a 2014 criminal threatening conviction and a 2016 assault with a deadly weapon conviction, the San County District Attorney's Office shared Luis Obispo.

“At last, justice has been served for Mr. Rick Fowler, the victim in this case, who was senselessly and brutally murdered and his body mutilated,” said prosecutor Dan Dow. “We are grateful to the jury for faithfully fulfilling their civic duty by paying careful attention to the presentation of the evidence. Mr. Cota received a fair trial and he will now serve his just and proper sentence in prison for life. This sentence sends a strong message that violent crimes are aggressively prosecuted in San Luis Obispo County.