Man accused of killing five infant children pleads not guilty

WOODLAND, Calif. (KTXL) -- The man accused of killing five of his infant children was formally charged with murder in a Yolo County court Tuesday.

Paul Allen Perez, through his public defender, pleaded not guilty to nine felony counts including committing multiple murders.

Perez expressed little emotion as nine criminal counts were read by Judge Peter Williams, among them five counts of murder, and allegations of lying in wait and torture for each of them.

Investigators said DNA evidence showed Perez was the father of a 1-month-old infant boy whose remains were found in a box in an irrigation slough outside Woodland in 2007.

Investigators said the boy was killed 10 years before and that four other siblings, all under 6 months old, were also murdered over the span of 11 years.

A cousin of Perez who attended the proceeding said she hasn't seen Perez in years but told FOX40 he had two wives and several grown children including a daughter in her thirties. But she said she wasn't aware of his younger children.

A preliminary hearing date has been set for two weeks from Tuesday.