Murder victim's final ride detailed

Posted in Related Deaths

7-3-2004 Texas:

.Robert Fernandez III died an agonizing death last year at the hands of his girlfriend and two female accomplices, the victim of a mistaken allegation of child abuse, jurors were told Wednesday on the first day of trial for Maria Del Carmen Hernandez. Hernandez, 27, is charged with capital murder in the July 25, 2004 strangulation death of Fernandez, 32, who is the father of her son, Alex. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. If convicted, Hernandez faces life in prison. "He suffered an agonizing death and he suffered it at the hands of this defendant, Maria Hernandez, who drugged him, bound his arms and legs and put him in the trunk of a car, and then strangled him with a nylon hose," prosecutor Catherine Hayes told jurors during opening statements.

Also facing capital murder charges are Cassandra Leffew, 36, and Dolores Rodriguez, 56, who are accused of helping Hernandez. Their trials are pending. According to prosecutors, Hernandez broke up with Fernandez around December 2002, and then in 2003 was a companion to an abusive boyfriend who took her to Mexico and forced her to live there. Later that year, she returned to San Antonio and ended up at the Battered Women's Shelter, where she met Leffew and eventually went to live in her home. After moving, Hernandez resumed her relationship with Fernandez, who also moved in. Together, they took care of seven children, three of whom belonged to Hernandez and four who belonged to Leffew.

On July 23, 2004, during a visit to a friend's apartment to take the kids swimming, one of the children told Hernandez that Fernandez had sexual contact with one of Leffew's daughters. The friend, Dino Monk, testified Wednesday he heard Hernandez threaten to kill her boyfriend and "throw him in a ditch." Two nights later, Hayes told jurors, the three women got Fernandez drunk on rum that had been spiked with drugs to incapacitate him. They questioned him about the alleged abuse, which he denied. When he passed out, they put him in the trunk of a car and drove around for several hours before using garbage bags and a nylon stocking to strangle him, Hayes said. ..more.. : by Tom Bower, EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER

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Woman guilty in boyfriend's slaying
9-3-2005 Texas:
.A woman was found guilty of capital murder for helping to kidnap and strangle her boyfriend after he was falsely accused of molesting the daughter of one of his alleged captors. Maria Del Carmen Hernandez, 27, was found guilty Friday by a jury in 227th District Court and sentenced to life in prison for the killing of Robert Fernandez III. The earliest she could be paroled is in 39 years.

Hernandez was one of three women accused in the July 2004 slaying. Dolores Rodriguez, 56, of San Antonio, is charged with capital murder and Cassandra Leffew, 36, also of San Antonio, is charged with kidnapping. Their trials are pending. According to witness testimony, the three women met in 2003 at the Battered Women's Shelter, and Hernandez eventually went to live with Leffew. By early 2004, Hernandez had reconciled with Fernandez, 32, and the couple were taking care of seven children three that were Hernandez's and four that were Leffew's.

In July 2004, Fernandez was accused of molesting one of Leffew's daughters. Authorities investigated and determined the charge was false — but not before Fernandez was kidnapped, drugged and interrogated at Rodriguez's home in remote South Bexar County. Despite his denials, Fernandez was tied up, and attempts were made to suffocate him using two plastic garbage bags. When that didn't work, the women put him in the trunk of Leffew's car and drove around with him for about two hours. Later, they strangled him using a nylon hose, according to the statements. Fernandez's body was found in a roadside ditch. ..more.. : by San Antonio Express-News