Accused killer connected to accidental deaths and insurance claims

A former Valley Center man is on his way back to Kansas to face murder charges in connection with a 2003 drowning. Daniel Perez, 52, is being brought here from Oklahoma, after Sedgwick County investigators linked him to a death that for years was thought to be an accident. Court documents reveal Perez has also gone by the name of Lou Castro and that he lived on the same property where Patricia Hughes drowned. Factfinder 12 Investigators learned this is only part of a much larger story. According to court documents, there’s a pattern of people close to Perez having large life insurance policies and then dying in accidents.