Wife Strangled, Body Dumped In Mexico: RivCo Man Sentenced

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A Jurupa Valley man who killed his wife of 20 years because he was incensed by her infidelity, then took her body south of the border and dumped it, was sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in state prison.

Following a two-week trial, Juan Carlos Alvarado Lopez, 47, was found guilty Nov. 3 of first-degree murder for the 2019 strangulation of 44-year-old Rosa Isela Beltran Lopez.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz imposed the required sentence for the conviction during a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Alvarado's co-defendant, Cornelio Corrales Robles of Jurupa Valley, pleaded guilty in 2019 to being an accessory after the fact and received a 16-month prison term. He has since been released.

According to the District Attorney's Office, in December 2018, Lopez became suspicious that his wife was having an extramarital affair and began monitoring her whereabouts.

On Christmas Eve of that year, he discovered her in Chino with another man, leading to a confrontation in which Lopez threatened to kill both of them, according to a trial brief filed by Deputy District Attorney Karrie Brusselback.

She said the police were called to defuse the situation, but Lopez left the location fuming, telling his wife, "This isn't over."

Rosa Lopez, who had three children with the defendant, chose to remain in their residence on Tomal Lane, but the two continued to openly quarrel in the ensuing weeks, according to the prosecution.

The victim returned home from an exercise class on Jan. 28, 2019, and briefly conversed with her daughter-in-law before going to the master bedroom, where the defendant was waiting, Brusselback said.

Behind closed doors, an argument erupted as Rosa Lopez prepared to take a shower. The daughter-in-law, whose identity was not disclosed in court documents, later told sheriff's investigators that she heard a loud noise, similar to a thud against a wall, and the verbal altercation abruptly stopped.

The defendant left the residence a short time later, telling the witness that his wife was still taking a shower, according to the brief. The daughter-in-law left the property without trying to check on the victim.

Detectives ultimately determined that Lopez had strangled his wife with a mobile phone charging cord. The prosecution said that, with assistance from his friend Robles, the victim's remains were stuffed in a sleeping bag and transported to Mexico, where they were dumped in Pueblo Nuevo, adjacent to Mexicali. Her body was located on Feb. 4, 2019.

Lopez had attempted to convince family members that Rosa had been abducted, and the kidnappers were demanding five million pesos in ransom for her safe return. However, the story soon unraveled as investigators began retracing Lopez's steps, including his purchase of the blue "Ascend" sleeping bag used to conceal the body, according to Brusselback.

The defendant had also procured a replacement trunk mat for his wife's Toyota Camry, which was used to transport her remains, the prosecutor said.

Lopez had no documented prior felony or misdemeanor convictions in Riverside County.