The marriage of Raul and Cathy Sarinana was “a match made in hell” that resulted in the deaths of two defenseless boys, a judge said Friday before sentencing the Corona couple to death.

Raul Ricardo Sarinana, 42, and Cathy Lynn Sarinana, 32, were convicted in March of torturing and murdering 11-year-old Ricky Morales, their nephew. Authorities have said they believe the couple also killed 13-year-old Conrad Morales, Ricky’s brother, in Randle, Wash. Charges have not been filed in that death.

In pronouncing sentences for the Sarinanas in Superior Court in Riverside, Judge Paul E. Zellerbach followed the recommendations two juries made in April. A sentence of death in California is automatically appealed.

Cathy Sarinana will be the 16th woman on California’s death row. Overall, 680 inmates await execution. The most recent execution was in January 2006.

Zellerbach said a dominant factor in his decision was the way Ricky was abused repeatedly by both Sarinanas. In autopsy photos shown at the trial, the boy’s body was covered with new and old scabs, bruises and scars, and a pathologist testified that Ricky had cracked ribs and a torn lung.

“The ongoing and almost mind-numbing extent of the torture inflicted on these boys … is horrifying,” Zellerbach said.

Ricky died in a closet at the Sarinanas’ Corona home on Christmas Day 2005 after Raul Sarinana kicked and beat him for cleaning a bathroom too slowly, according to trial testimony.

Raul Sarinana also told police he had beaten Conrad and later found him dead. The older boy’s body was found encased in concrete in a trash can outside the Corona home.

In a courtroom packed with members of the Sarinana and Morales families and members of the two juries, five of Ricky and Conrad’s relatives told the court Friday how the boys’ deaths have devastated their family.

Rosa Sarinana, the boys’ mother, described how Conrad and Ricky always knew when she was upset and tried to help. Now her main consolation is her youngest son, the child she was carrying when she learned of Conrad and Ricky’s deaths, she said.

She sent Ricky and Conrad to live with the Sarinanas when she and other relatives couldn’t care for them.

“How can I enjoy life after what they’ve done to my sons?” Rosa Sarinana said.

“God has given me another chance, but it’s not the same.”

She and the boys’ sister, Destinee Morales, 19, said they believed death sentences would serve justice, although Rosa added that Raul and Cathy should suffer the torture her sons did.

Jurors were released from their obligations in April but some returned Friday. The harrowing experience of the three-month trial has stayed with Brad Wrightstone, 34, a Riverside resident who was foreman of Raul Sarinana’s jury.

“I pretty much think about it every day,” Wrightstone said. “I wanted to make sure that our decision that we came up with was upheld, and if it wasn’t I wanted to know why.”

Many thanks to Cristina for tipping us off to the good news.

Brought to you by People You’ll See In Hell. The best reason to get a background check that just about anyone can think of.

Brought to you by People You’ll See In Hell. The best reason to get a background check that just about anyone can think of.