In a chilling case that has haunted California for decades, a 63-year-old man, Paul Allen Perez, has been convicted of murdering several of his infant children over a span of nine years, crimes that date back more than twenty years. This week, a jury reached a verdict, finding Perez guilty on multiple murder charges, as revealed by the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office.

On January 6, Perez was convicted of one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder, according to reports from the Sacramento Bee and the Davis Enterprise. However, the jury acquitted him of both first-degree and second-degree murder charges in connection with a fifth child’s death, ultimately unable to reach a unanimous decision on an involuntary manslaughter charge.

Adding to these convictions, the district attorney’s office reported that Perez was also found guilty of assaulting a child under eight, using force likely to cause significant bodily harm resulting in death. The horrifying acts took place across Central and Northern California, spanning from 1992 to 2001, as noted in the official news release.

The sinister crimes began to unravel in 2007 when a fisherman made a grim discovery in Woodland, California. The remains of an infant were found inside a cooler, which had been deliberately weighed down and submerged in a waterway. This gruesome find led to a cold case investigation that eventually pieced together the tragic fate of Perez’s children, according to a Yolo County Sheriff’s Office news release.

“This conviction stems from murders that occurred between 1992 and 2001,” the news release said, “throughout Central and Northern California.”

Perez’s crimes began to be uncovered in 2007, when a fisherman discovered the remains of an infant in a cooler weighed down and submerged in a waterway in Woodland, Calif., according to a Yolo County Sheriff’s Office news release.

It wasn’t until 2019 that the infant was identified by forensic DNA comparison as Nikko Lee Perez. Familial DNA found that Paul Allen Perez was the baby’s father, and that the baby had four siblings—one of whom was known to be dead, and three of which were believed to be dead, with their bodies never found.

In January 2020, authorities arrested Perez on suspicion of the murder of each child, saying all five had died under the age of six months.

“These crimes involved pure evil,” Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said in a statement following the verdict. “The defendant should die in prison. May the souls of his murdered children rest in peace.”

Perez faces life in prison without parole, according to the news release. His sentencing is scheduled for April 6.

has reached out to Perez’s public defender for comment.