Man Who Plotted Xmas Video of Ex-Girlfriend's Murder Gets 31 Years

Ebenezer Scrooge has nothing on this guy.

Mark Alan Jarosik, who raped his ex-girlfriend in Ladera Ranch, got arrested and asked a fellow inmate to kill her and videotape the attack so he could watch it at Christmas, was sentenced Thursday to 31 years to life in prison.

Jarosik, 46, was found guilty of two counts of rape, solicitation of murder, attempted murder and attempted forcible sodomy stemming from several 2009 attacks on his girlfriend, identified in court only as Sarah.

Jarosik said he was remorseful for the "emotional and physical damage" he inflicted on the victim, according to a City News Service report on the hearing.

"I just want to express how sorry I am for all the pain I caused here," he said. "I pray she forgives me someday."

Jarosik, who pledged to better himself while in prison, will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence. He was given credit for 1,499 days in custody.

The victim wrote a letter to probation officials, but declined to make a statement to the judge before sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker told City News Service.

After the hearing, the prosecutor said, "I'm just happy for the victim to have closure in this case. It was a long road to get here."

Jarosik and the victim -- who lived together about two years -- got into an argument at her home on May 15, 2009, when she confronted him about driving around a restaurant watching her as she waited for a friend, Walker said. The couple had broken up a month earlier.

The two argued for about an hour until she went to bed. Later, as Jarosik kept pressing her to discuss their relationship, she refused, so he grabbed her by the neck and raped her for hours, and attempted to sodomize her until he passed out on top of her, Walker said.

The victim was too afraid and traumatized to try to get away, and in the morning, he raped her again, Walker said. The woman got out of the house by convincing Jarosik she had to go to a funeral, according to the prosecutor, who said the victim's friend, father and brother then persuaded her to go to authorities.

While in custody, Jarosik talked with fellow inmate Timothy Ryan about enlisting Ryan's cousin to kill the victim, Walker said.

Jarosik's mother and sister bailed him out of jail June 6, and the next day he ignored a court order and went to the victim's home, where he stuck a hand through a window near the front door, Walker said. The woman's frightened children screamed, prompting Jarosik to leave.

Jarosik returned June 8 and attacked her, Walker said.

A neighbor driving in the area saw Jarosik "bashing her head into a curb, over and over," the prosecutor said, adding that the neighbor and another witness had to "pry" him off the victim.

When Ryan saw a news report about the attack and realized Jarosik was serious about the murder solicitation, he went to authorities, who arranged a meeting between the pair, and the conversation was recorded, Walker said.

Sarah spent about 11 days in a hospital intensive care unit and suffered memory loss, Walker said.

Defense attorney Michael Molfetta said the couple's relationship started with an affair in Las Vegas. They both got divorced and initially dated long distance while Jarosik was living in Chicago.

"He left everything for nothing -- to live in a trailer," Molfetta said.