A Texas man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping his estranged wife, tying a block of concrete to her, and throwing her from a bridge into Lake Worth to drown.
Elizabeth Arellano, 28, and Rodolfo Arellano, 36, met at Diamond Hill-Jarvis high school in Fort Worth, Texas. The couple were together for 13 years had four children together, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Shortly before Rodolfo murdered Elizabeth, she hadsaid she wanted to divorce him.
Elizabeth—a medical assistant—went out with colleagues on April 15, 2016. In the early hours of the morning, she called a friend to say she had arrived safely back at her parents' home.
Later that morning, Elizabeth's mother contacted Fort Worth police to report her daughter missing after discovering her abandoned car containing her purse, cell phone and the keys in the ignition.
At that time, officers had already discovered her body in Lake Worth. She was wearing her medical scrubs, and had a 119 pound block of concrete attached to a fence post tied around her neck with a rope. A fisherman had alerted officers that he witnessed a person plummeting from the Loop 820 bridge.
Elizabeth's death was originally believed to be a suicide, NBCDFW.com reported. However, Tarrant County medical examiner later concluded she was a victim of homicide, and had died by drowning.
Rodolfo was charged with her murder on April 26, 2016, after police officers realized the rope and concrete he had used to kill her were taken from his home, NBCDFW.com reported. Remnants of the concrete block used to kill Elizabeth were discovered in his vehicle.
Initially, Rodolfo told police he was at home during the incident. But CCTV footage and phone records revealed he was near her parent's home at the time. According to court documents seen by CBS 11, Rodolfo is thought to have waited outside Elizabeth's parents house for her to come home.
Arellano made his guilty plea on Wednesday, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole, CBS 11 reported. Prosecutor Allenna Bangs said, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that Arellano's guilty plea brought Elizabeth's family "such a level of peace."
Bangs described Elizabeth as a "mom and a daughter and a sister and friend. So knowing that he is in prison for the remainder of his natural life and that is not going to change and knowing the comfort that brought them is what puts us where we are today."
Diana Ramos, a neighbor, told CBS 11 at the time of Elizabeth's death: "How can somebody do something like that? I don't understand how people can be so evil and so mean, to another human being."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
");jQuery(this).remove()}) jQuery('.start-slider').owlCarousel({loop:!1,margin:10,nav:!0,items:1}).on('changed.owl.carousel',function(event){var currentItem=event.item.index;var totalItems=event.item.count;if(currentItem===0){jQuery('.owl-prev').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-prev').removeClass('disabled')} if(currentItem===totalItems-1){jQuery('.owl-next').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-next').removeClass('disabled')}})}})})
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrK6enZtjsLC5jq2csZmjYrqiuoytoJ6cXaW2pq%2FEZpqoppOnsrWxjJ6qraqRo7SmsIywoJ%2BdXam1s7vWoqWgZZiav26u0aKboJ1dmb%2Bww81maGxpYmp%2FeA%3D%3D