Pair Sentenced in Son’s Torture, Slaying

A Los Angeles couple who tortured their son for years by pouring chili sauce on his eyes have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for ultimately strangling the 13-year-old in 1998 and dumping his body in Mexico.

Superior Court Judge Curtis Rappe sentenced Maria Tinoco, 37, to 31 years to life in prison, and her husband, Saul Tinoco, 38, to 22 years to life.

Rappe, who heard the case after the two waived their right to a jury trial, convicted them March 7 of torturing and murdering Edwin Tinoco. The couple also were convicted of torture acts and child abuse involving their nephew.

The Tinocos were arrested in 1999 after their then-17-year-old nephew, who lived with them, ran away from home.

He went to a police station near the couple’s home, where he told authorities about his cousin Edwin’s death.

The couple strangled the teenager with an electrical cord and loaded him into their car. But Edwin did not die immediately, said the nephew, who testified at the weeklong trial.

The nephew told authorities he sat in the back seat next to his dying cousin, who took his last breath as the couple drove through downtown Los Angeles on the way to Mexico to dump his body.

The couple then threw Edwin’s body into a trash dump in the Sonoran Desert, he testified.