Officer Gets 17 Years for Wife’s Death

San Diego Police Officer Pablo Agrio was sentenced to 17 years to life on Friday by a Superior Court judge who said the officer’s killing of his wife was a “terrible tragedy” that ruined two promising careers in law enforcement.

Judge Terry B. O’Rourke also denied a request for a new trial and ordered Agrio held without bail pending the appeal of his second-degree murder conviction. The judge said he wanted Agrio to remain in jail because there is a possibility the police officer might flee to his native Panama.

“This case is a terrible tragedy,” O’Rourke said. “There’s no way to escape that. I’m sorry to see Mr. Agrio before this court.”

Reaction to Sentence

Agrio showed no emotion during the sentencing. But his mother-in-law, Dora Medina, said outside the courtroom that she worries most now about her 2-year-old grandson.

“I am satisfied with the sentence, but it certainly can’t bring my daughter back,” she said through an interpreter. “I’m concerned about my grandson. His mother is dead, and his father is going to prison.”

Agrio, a four-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department, was convicted last month of shooting his wife, Alma Agrio, in the back of the head during a heated argument in their Paradise Hills home in March, 1988.

The argument began after Alma Agrio returned home intoxicated and her husband, incensed over her behavior, kicked open their bedroom door. The couple fought, she grabbed a gun and he wrestled it away from her. During that struggle, Alma Agrio was shot.

Pablo Agrio, 30, testified at the trial that he never really remembered holding the gun or firing the weapon, a position echoed by his defense attorney on Friday.

“Everything happened so fast,” said attorney Edmundo Espinoza. “Mr. Agrio said he did not even remember he had the gun in his hand.”

But the judge discounted Agrio’s testimony. “I personally did not find Mr. Agrio to be a credible witness,” O’Rourke said. “It would be an understatement to describe his manner of testimony as evasive.”

The judge also said the shooting ended two promising police careers.

Pablo Agrio had been attending law school and was expected to soon pass the test for police sergeant. His 24-year-old wife was a recruit correctional officer at the San Diego County Sheriff’s Academy.

The couple, the judge said, had “demonstrated a lot of wonderful promise.”

Attorney Espinoza said the shooting was a tragic moment that likely would never happen again. “It was a one-time, isolated incident,” Espinoza said. “He was an excellent police officer.”

However, Deputy Dist. Atty. A. Craig Rooten pointed out, and the judge agreed, that Agrio had a history of abusing and beating his wife. Rooten referred to evidence of bruises on Alma Agrio’s arms and testimony that she had been threatened by her husband, even on the night of her death.

“There was expressed malice,” the judge said. “Mr. Agrio was going to do something to his wife.”

Agrio has remained on administrative leave since the murder, but Rooten said Friday that the officer will probably be dismissed soon.