Man convicted of first-degree murder, mutilation of human remains
Jury found Marco Antonio Cota, Jr. guilty of first-degree murder and mutilation of human remains in the Nov. 2021 killing of Rick Fowler
– San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow announced that yesterday, Tuesday Feb. 13, a San Luis Obispo County jury found Marco Antonio Cota, Jr. (44) guilty of first-degree murder and mutilation of human remains in the Nov. 2021 killing of Rick Fowler (64).
This week, Superior Court Judge Timothy Covello found true the allegation that Cota had suffered three prior convictions for “strike” offenses under California’s Three Strikes Law: including a 1998 conviction for robbery in Tulare County and convictions for criminal threats in 2014 and assault with a Deadly Weapon in 2016, both in San Luis Obispo County.
The crimes against Fowler occurred in the Bianchi Open Space area of San Luis Obispo during the evening of Nov. 20, 2021. At trial, jurors heard evidence that Cota and Fowler were involved in a verbal argument and that Cota followed Fowler back to Fowler’s campsite, where Cota attacked and beat him to death. Cota then pierced the body of Fowler with several sticks.
Cota is scheduled to be sentenced March 11, at 8:30 a.m. in Department 5 of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, where he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The case was investigated by the San Luis Obispo City Police Department with the assistance of the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Melissa Chabra.
