mariticide Archives - Home Safety Tech Pros

Man stabbed ex-wife 95 times because she met someone new

homesafetytechpros — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 17:57:55 +0000

Inset: Martin Garcia (Bexar County Jail). Background: Authorities at the home where Garcia killed his wife (KSAT).

A 66-year-old man in Texas will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing his ex-wife, stabbing her 95 times because she’d met someone new and planned to move out of the home they still shared despite their divorce. Bexar County Criminal District Judge Ron Rangel on Monday ordered Martin Garcia to serve 45 years in a state correctional facility for the 2023 slaying of 66-year-old Teresa Moreno Garcia, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.

Garcia reached a deal with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office in which he agreed to plead no contest to one count of murder in exchange for a maximum sentence of 45 years. Rangel also credited Garcia with 454 days of time already served.

The sentencing hearing

During Monday’s sentencing hearing, Teresa Garcia’s sons both gave victim impact statements in which they described the victim as a loving mother who was the victim of domestic abuse at the hands of Garcia, San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT reported.

“She did not know how to escape,” one of Teresa Garcias sons said, talking about her relationship with Martin Garcia.

“He would say things like, ‘If I can’t have her, nobody can,”” the victim’s other son said. He also implored those listening to listen to victims of domestic violence, saying that they had known Martin Garcia was abusive for decades.

Prosecutors said that while the couple had divorced several years earlier, they reportedly remained living together due to money struggles. It wasn’t until Teresa Garcia told her ex that she had met someone new and was going to be moving out that he “violently attacked her,” according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Martin Garcia also took the stand Monday, telling the court, “I loved her very much.”

“She was the only one I loved,” he said. “I did what I did, I am very sorry, but I loved her.”

The murder

As Law&Crime previously reported, officers with the San Antonio Police Department at about 11 p.m. on the night of Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, responded to an emergency call at a residence located in the 200 block of Channing Avenue regarding an adult female being stabbed. The caller identified himself as Martin Garcia before explaining to the dispatcher that he had just finished killing his wife by stabbing her to death.

Upon arriving at the address, first responders said they found the victim — later identified as Teresa Garcia — suffering from what appeared to be multiple stab wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The San Antonio Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services were also dispatched to the residence. Police said that when they found Martin Garcia at the scene he appeared to have intentionally cut one of his wrists. He was transported to a local hospital for a medical evaluation before being taken into custody without incident.

A copy of the arrest report obtained by the San Antonio Express-News provided additional information regarding the circumstances of the alleged domestic violence murder.

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According to the report, Martin Garcia told the 911 emergency dispatcher that he had used a knife to murder Teresa Garcia — whom he referred to as his wife — after the two had gotten into a heated argument before slitting his own wrist.

Garcia reportedly explained that they were arguing because he believed that his wife was cheating on him. He said that at some point during the argument, Teresa Garcia attempted to leave the house, which is when he attacked and repeatedly stabbed her.

When officers arrived at the couple’s home, Martin Garcia was waiting for them outside the residence. Teresa Garcia’s body was discovered lying on the floor inside the home.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on the victim and determined the manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was multiple sharp force injuries.

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Wife who couldn’t afford divorce killed sleeping husband

homesafetytechpros — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 23:29:13 +0000

Melanie Biggins (Jackson County Jail).

A 42-year-old woman in Missouri will spend a decade behind bars for killing her husband of nine years, shooting him in the back of the head as he slept in their bed because she couldn’t afford to divorce him. Sixteenth Circuit Court Judge Jalilah Otto on Monday ordered Melanie Biggins to serve 10 years in a state correctional facility for the 2022 slaying of Etienne L. McEwan, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.

Biggins was initially arrested in August 2022 and charged with one count each of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, meaning she was facing a potential life sentence. However, her lawyer, public defender Edward S. Berrigan, reached a deal with prosecutors in which she agreed to plead guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter. In exchange for the plea, the other charges against Biggins were dismissed.

As Law&Crime previously reported, officers with the Kansas City Missouri Police Department at approximately 1 a.m. on Aug. 31, 2022, responded to a reported shooting at a residence in the 1700 block of Gillespie Place.

Upon arriving at the address, first responders encountered the couple’s two young daughters, ages 10 and 11, who were waving their arms to flag down police. They entered the home and went upstairs where they found Biggins administering CPR on her husband, who was “laying on the bed in a pool of blood.” Emergency Medical Services arrived at the scene a short while later and pronounced McEwan dead.

Biggins allegedly told police that she “woke up to the sound of a gunshot and noticed her husband was shot but did not see who did it.” She claimed she then went downstairs and found the front door open.

Investigators said they quickly determined that the shooting was not a suicide and found no signs of forced entry.

“A pillow was located on the floor at the foot of the bed with apparent blood and a hole through it. Crime scene personnel were able to locate a projectile in the stuffing of the pillow. A blanket was also located on the floor with a hole through it and apparent gunpowder burns around the hole,” the affidavit states. “In the closet of the bedroom, an empty black handgun case for a Charter Arms .38 Special was located on the top shelf. In the next door room, a purple/black Charter Arms .38 Special, was located underneath a bunk bed. The firearm had one spent shell casing still inside of the cylinder in the top position.”

Two children, whose names are redacted in the document, allegedly told investigators that they woke up to the sound of a gunshot. The two then went downstairs and found their mother sitting on the couch, documents said. One of the girls allegedly said that Biggins looked “as if she had seen a ghost.” The girls then went upstairs and entered their parents’ bedroom, according to investigators.

“She entered her parents’ bedroom and observed the victim lying on the bed so she turned on the lamp next to the bed. [Redacted] immediately noticed that the victim was bleeding, so she ran back into her room to call the police,” the affidavit states. “[Redacted] handed the phone to Biggins and the call takers told her to begin CPR. While Biggins was doing CPR, she could hear the victim gurgling blood.”

In a second interview with police later that day, Biggins claimed that she was awoken by the sound of a gunshot and found her husband bleeding next to her. She said that she never left the bedroom prior to police arriving at the scene, contradicting her daughters as well as her own initial statement in which she said she found the front door open.

Biggins initially stated that the only gun in the home was her husband’s rifle, which was stored in the closet, according to the affidavit. When confronted with purchase records, however, she allegedly admitted to buying the .38 Special in July of 2022. Police say she was “unable to explain” how the firearm ended up under a bed in another room.

Additionally, Biggins allegedly admitted that she wanted to leave her husband for another man.

“When asked about her relationship with the victim, she said they were legally married for 9 years. Due to financial problems, she has been in an intimate relationship with another man for a year and a half,” the document states. “Biggins has also wanted to get a divorce from the victim but due to their financial struggles, that is currently not an option.”

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Florida who admitted to killing wife learns his fate

homesafetytechpros — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 08:02:30 +0000

Timothy Upthegrove and Lori Upthegrove (Titusville Police Dept.) and the home where he killed her in 2017 (WESH screenshot)

A 59-year-old man in Florida will spend the remainder of his life behind bars for killing his wife, beating and stabbing the 51-year-old woman to death inside their home, hiding her body in the woods, and destroying evidence of his crime before later telling authorities that his wife was “in heaven.”

Eighteenth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Steven Henderson on Thursday ordered Timothy A. Upthegrove to serve a sentence of life in a state correctional facility for the 2017 slaying of Lori Upthegrove, authorities announced.

Before being sentenced, a Brevard County jury deliberated for about nine hours before finding Timothy Upthegrove guilty on one count each of first-degree premeditated murder, tampering with evidence, and failure to report a death.

According to court documents reviewed by Law&Crime, Lori Upthegrove’s family and friends, on Dec. 19, 2017, reported her missing to the Titusville Police Department. The following day, authorities found her car at a Days Inn motel in the 3700 block of Cheney Highway. The car had what appeared to be blood spatter on the front, back, doors, and at least one tire. Police also recovered “a significant amount of blood evidence” inside of the vehicle.

Timothy Upthegrove was found to be staying at the motel. When officers made contact with Timothy Upthegrove, they said his hands, arms, and knees were “covered” with lacerations and abrasions. Later, they recovered women’s clothing covered in blood and bloody towels inside a dumpster on the motel’s property.

During a search of the home the two shared in the 600 block of Cleveland Street, police said they found evidence that a violent crime had taken place in the garage, which included “significant amounts of pooling and blood spatter along with evidence that someone made an attempt to clean up the blood evidence.”

“Several items were located in the garage to include an axe stained with blood evidence, a hammer stained with blood evidence, and a hair clip found on the ground in the area of where most of the blood was concentrated,” police wrote in an affidavit.

Timothy Upthegrove was brought to the police station for an interview, where he admitted that he had been inside the garage and knew that there was blood inside and confessed to throwing the bloody towels and clothing in the motel dumpster.

“Timothy (Upthegrove) stated during an interview that Lori (Upthegrove) was in heaven and that things ‘got out of control’ between them while at the residence,” police wrote in the affidavit. “This argument would have occurred near the garage.”

As investigators continued to press Timothy Upthegrove about what happened to his life, he admitted that he had killed her during the argument that took place after he came home from a night of using illegal narcotics, prosecutors said. After the murder, he put her body in his car and drove out to a wooded lot on Bobbi Lane that was owned by a relative, where he hid her body in some tall grass. He eventually directed police as to where they could recover Lori Upthegrove’s body.

In court records, investigators noted that the Upthegroves had a history of domestic violence. In one particular instance in August 2017, Timothy Upthegrove told his wife she was “going to make (him) snap!” and then bit her face, leaving a “clear bite mark with teeth impressions” that police who responded to the scene observed. That case was still pending when he was charged with murder.

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