A Costa Mesa man accused of strangling his girlfriend, slitting her wrist and leaving her body in a trash can outside his home following a drunken argument has been charged with murder, prosecutors announced on Monday, Oct. 28.

Daniel Allen Aldrich, 49, is also facing a felony enhancement for the personal use of a weapon related to the death of 38-year-old Julie Anne Sanetra, whose body was found on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at Aldrich’s home on the 1900 block of Maple Avenue, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s Office statement.

Prosecutors allege that following a night of drinking on Sunday, Oct. 20, Aldrich got into an argument with Sanetra, an Irvine resident. Aldrich is accused of strangling Sanetra, prosecutors said, then slitting her wrist with a folding knife.

According to prosecutors, Aldrich left Sanetra’s body on his couch while he watched television and as he went to bed.

The next day, prosecutors say, Aldrich dragged Sanetra’s body outside his home and stuffed it into a trash can on the side of his house. He then went back inside the home, packed a bag and drove to his mother’s house in Glendale, prosecutors added.

A day later, landscapers who had been hired to mow the lawn at Aldrich’s property discovered Sanetra’s body, which prosecutors say at that point was partially outside the trash can.

Costa Mesa police arrested Aldrich later that day at his mother’s house.

“Julie Sanetra did not deserve to be strangled and stuffed into a trash can like a piece of garbage,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a written statement. “The callousness of this crime shocks the conscience, and we will do everything to get justice for Julie and her loved ones.”

Aldrich, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail, is scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment on Nov. 19. If convicted as charged, Aldrich faces up to 26 years to life in prison.

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