A Phoenix man, Gilbert Villareal, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the violent murder of his wife and their unborn child.
According to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, on March 26, 2012, Phoenix Police arrived at an apartment complex where they discovered Villareal’s 22-year-old pregnant wife deceased from 38 stab wounds. Her two-year-old son was standing beside her, crying.
Through the investigation, law enforcement learned that this incident was the culmination of more than a year of domestic violence incidents where the defendant terrorized, manipulated, and abused the victim, who was attempting to leave the relationship when she was murdered.
Following the incident, Villareal fled to Mexico where his whereabouts were unknown until December 21, 2016, when he was arrested for yet another violent incident of domestic violence. Villareal was convicted in Mexico and sentenced to prison, after which he was extradited back to the U.S. to face the charges in Maricopa County.
In early December, Villareal pleaded guilty to two Arizona counts of second-degree murder, both class one dangerous felonies.
Villareal also received five lifetime injunctions, preventing any type of contact with the victim’s family including his own son.