TWELVE years after his wife of four days was beaten to death with a tyre iron, a jury has found Michel Escoto guilty of killing her so he could collect her $US1million ($F1.8m)life insurance policy.
Escoto, 42, who reportedly tried to drug and then drown his 21-year-old bride, Wendy Trapaga, in a Miami hot tub in 2002, showed no emotion as the jury handed down its verdict.
The prosecution successfully put the case that Escoto took his bride to Miami’s warehouse district after she did not die in the hot tub where he strangled and then bludgeoned her with a tyre iron.
Escoto had taken out the life insurance policy on Trapaga just days before her murder.
The jury had heard from Escoto’s ex girlfriend, Yolanda Cerillo, who testified in exchange for immunity from prosecution that she was at the crime scene where Trapaga was killed and helped plot her murder.
“I hated what she stood for. I didn’t know who she was. I hated the whole situation. I hated that you left. I hated that she was pregnant, then she wasn’t pregnant…” she said in court.
Escoto had represented himself during the trial. During the trial, Escoto was sentenced to 30 days in jail for threatening Jorge Borron, the civil attorney representing the family of Trapaga.
