Man who dismembered mom cites ‘Sopranos’

updated 12:44 a.m. ET April 9, 2005

SANTA ANA, Calif. - A judge imposed a sentence of 25 years to life in prison Friday for a man who killed his mother and then dismembered her in an attempt to conceal her identity, which he said he learned from “The Sopranos.”

Jason Bautista, 22, was convicted of first-degree murder in February in Orange County Superior Court.

Bautista testified during his trial that he killed Jane Bautista in 2003 in “accidental self-defense.” He claimed she had lunged at him with a knife and he strangled her while he had her in a headlock as they struggled over the weapon.

Jason Bautista testified that because he did not think authorities would believe the killing was in self-defense, he cut off his mother’s head and hands in hopes of preventing her body from being identified. He told jurors he learned how to conceal a victim’s identity in that manner by watching HBO’s “The Sopranos.”

The defense claimed Jane Bautista, 41, physically and emotionally abused Jason and his half brother, Matthew Montejo.

Montejo, 17, pleaded guilty to accessory to murder after the fact for helping his half brother dispose of the body along a rural Orange County road. He has been released from juvenile hall.

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