A Virginia man was found guilty of first-degree murder and arson Thursday in the slaying of a mother of two who he thought was his ex last year, according to multiple media reports.
NBC4 Washington reported that prosecutors said Richard Montano, 48, killed Silvia Vaca Abacay, 40, on Aug. 10, 2022, at his ex-girlfriend’s Fatima Via Rojas apartment in Seven Corners.
According to The Washington Postprosecutors said Montano intended to kill Via Rojas after she recently broke up with him “at least twice” in late July 2022 after a “volatile, abusive” eight-year relationship, in which Via Rojas testified in court that Montano hit and hit her is a foot.
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However, Montana did not realize that Via Rojas’ friend Abacay, a mother of a son and daughter living in Bolivia, was staying in the apartment when he attacked her after opening the door, reports NBC4 Washington.
“He literally went for the jugular. It went on the face, head, neck. It goes where it will cause the most damage,” one lawyer said of Abacay’s injuries, the paper reported.
The publication also reported that the medical examiner determined that Abacay’s body had suffered “at least 10 blunt force injuries and 10 stab wounds.”
“Listen to the pain and anguish in Silvia’s voice as she screams for her life on that call,” the prosecutor said of the neighbor’s 911 call played in court to jurors.
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After Montano realized he had killed the wrong person, he tried to cover up the killing by setting it on fire, prosecutors allege, according to NBC4 Washington.
“He used her own clothes to burn her,” the prosecutor said The Washington Post. “He set the body on fire to cover up a gruesome murder – a gruesome murder by the wrong person. He killed the wrong person and now he has to cover his tracks.”
As a result, Fairfax County jurors also found Montana guilty of arson on Thursday, NBC4 Washington reports.
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Fairfax County Circuit Court did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“I’ve seen a lot of crime scenes and photos, but the photos from this case stood out in terms of the severity of the victim’s injuries,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said in a statement to The Washington Post.
“This case presented some of the most disturbing crime scenes I have ever encountered,” Descano also said in a statement to Fox 5 Washington DC. “While we can’t bring Silvia back, we can make sure Montano is no longer a threat to the public.”
According to Fox 5 Washington DC, Montano faces up to life in prison pending a sentencing hearing on January 24, 2024.
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