Overview
- The Ventura County jury returned its verdict after about three hours of deliberation on Nov. 21.
- Jurors found first-degree murder, lying in wait, and use of a deadly weapon to be true, triggering a life‑without‑parole penalty.
- The panel rejected a financial‑gain allegation, a determination that does not alter the sentence.
- Prosecutors cited phone location data, a neighbor’s sighting, shovel‑purchase surveillance, blood in Ali’s trunk, and DNA as corroborating evidence.
- Ali testified that he planned the attack, killed Rachel Castillo inside her Simi Valley apartment, buried her in the Antelope Valley, and previously pleaded guilty to sexual contact with her remains.