A woman’s son and husband didn’t approve of her lover, so all three killed him, deputies say
A Northern California woman, her husband and son were arrested Saturday in connection with the death of her lover after the men discovered the affair, authorities said.
Maria Guadalupe Torres, her husband, Rene Espinoza Martinez Sr., and her son, Rene Espinoza Martinez Jr., are being held without bail on suspicion of murder and conspiracy to commit a crime, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.
Torres and the victim, Antonio Botello-Arreola, had been involved in a long-term romantic relationship, said sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Spencer Crum.
That was until her 20-year-old son and 40-year-old husband became aware of the affair recently and “didn’t approve,” Crum said.
The four found themselves on the same Santa Rosa road early Friday.
Botello-Arreola, 25, and Torres, 40, had been driving in a Toyota Previa minivan when they pulled over onto a dirt turnout in the 4500 block of Porter Creek Road.
As Torres got out of the vehicle, authorities said, her husband and son pulled up in a car next to the van and fired shots into the driver’s side.
Botello-Arreola was struck but managed to escape through the passenger door. He ran to a nearby ravine and fell, officials said.
Hours later, the California Highway Patrol notified the sheriff’s office that they had found a vehicle riddled with bullet holes and blood at Porter Creek Road.
When deputies arrived, they found the Toyota minivan, with its windows shot out. While searching the area, they found Botello-Arreola dead in the ravine.
Detectives also found evidence inside the minivan that led them to a motel in Santa Rosa.
At the motel, Crum said, detectives gathered check-in information and surveillance video that linked Torres to Botello-Arreola.
The next day, detectives arrested Torres, her husband and son in Lake County.
“All three of the family members acted in concert in the homicide,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The mother, father and son were set to appear in Sonoma County court Wednesday.
For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter.
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