Thread: Illegal immigrant found guilty of murder

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a ... 006/NEWS01


March 3, 2006


Illegal immigrant found guilty of murder
Muncie Star-Press
March 3, 2006


HARTFORD CITY, Ind. -- An illegal immigrant was found guilty of murder late Thursday by a Blackford Circuit Court jury after more than nine hours of deliberation.

Emigio F. Lopez was charged with killing Melvin Emilio Hernandez-Lopez on April 14, 2004, in the Montpelier duplex the 29-year-old victim shared with his wife and 3-year-old son.

Authorities said Hernandez-Lopez was stabbed nearly 80 times. Lopez, 29 at the time of his arrest, was charged a week after the slaying. The trial began Feb. 21.

The victim's wife, Brandi, tearfully recalled finding her husband's body. She said the killer had left the victim's young son, found wearing pajamas smeared with his father's blood, locked in the duplex with the body.

She also acknowledged she and Lopez had been involved in a romantic relationship after her husband was sent to jail and was later deported to Mexico after his conviction on two counts of intimidation in 2002.

The witness said she and Lopez at times lived together during her husband's absence. Hernandez-Lopez returned to the United States, apparently illegally, not long before his death.

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