Rogue ‘beauty treatments’ claim victims from Salinas to Miami.

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On March 13, after several months of investigation, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department finally arrested Martha Mata Vasquez, a Salinas hairdresser, in connection with the injections given to Aguirre-Castillo and several others, including Aguirre-Castillo’s sister.

On March 21, Vasquez was formally charged with manslaughter, practicing medicine without a license, and an “enhancement” for causing great bodily injury for the weeklong coma suffered by Aguirre-Castillo before she died. If convicted of all of the charges plus the enhancement—which serves to lengthen a sentence for particularly bad behavior—Vasquez could serve as few as eight years in state prison for her role in Aguirre-Castillo’s death.

Since Vasquez’ arrest, cops say their phones have been “ringing off the hook” with new victims.

“We’ve identified about five victims so far,” says Monterey County Sheriff’s Department Investigative Sergeant Terry Kaiser.

Deputy District Attorney Steve Somers has been assigned to prosecute Vasquez. Somers says that while many victims have come forward, some can’t be included in the prosecution because the injections they received occurred outside of the statute-of-limitations period.

Cops don’t want that to play into whether or not victims choose to come forward, pointing out that while criminal prosecution may be unavailable to some victims, civil culpability may still exist.

“There’s a whole bunch more of them out there,” Kaiser says. “We know that. Some have come forward but don’t want to talk officially because they’re embarrassed. Some have never told their spouses or friends that they were getting the injections, and they just want to go on about their lives. That’s OK. We’re going with what we have.”

Investigators say Vasquez advertised her services at the New Image Hair Salon at Acosta Plaza in East Salinas, where she continues to work as a hairdresser. Vasquez was charging anywhere from $300 to $500 per injection.

“I don’t know what [Vasquez] told them the substance was. Something to get wrinkles out of their butts and to plump up the butt to get rid of dimples,” Kaiser says. “Who knows what has been injected into other victims: Vaseline, silicone, kerosene, or just about anything.”

Vasquez has hired Tom Worthington and Charlie Keeley, heavy-hitting Salinas lawyers familiar with high-profile cases, to defend her. Worthington has been practicing law for nearly 40 years. Keeley has spent most of her career working for the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. They’re arguably the best local defense attorneys money can buy.

Keeley stood next to Vasquez when she was arraigned, entering “not guilty” pleas on her behalf. Such a plea is pretty much standard at such an early stage of the proceedings.

Worthington spoke later about his client.

“She’s scared,” he says. “She’s very upset. She’s devastated by the death of this woman, her friend. But she wants to face this thing head-on. She’s ready to deal with it.”

“It’s a tragedy all around,” Kaiser said later, “including the tragic death of an individual who tried to be more beautiful.

“The bottom line is, [Vasquez] was looking to make some money, and she hurt people in the process.”

Worthington says Vasquez has been candid with investigators, giving them specific details of her involvement from the get-go. He’s hopeful that that will later play in his client’s favor.

Somers isn’t ready to second-guess the case’s outcome but says what he really wants right now is public education.

“We’re really hoping people will understand what’s going on. We want people to come forward. We believe there have been a lot of people injected. Even if they don’t come to us, we want those people to see a doctor and get help. Someone died. It can happen again.”