Jose Rodriguez-Cruz, 55, has been sentenced to death for killing his estranged wife, about three decades ago. Rodriguez-Cruz, who had been telling his son that his mother abandoned the two of them, admitted to strangling Marta Rodriguez, who was 26 at the time. Marta was last seen live in 1989. Rodriguez Cruz, who is already serving 12 years for murder, hid Marta’s remains, befuddling investigators. Marta’s remains were found in 1991 but weren’t identified until 2018. Circuit Court Judge Michael Levy in Stafford County, Virginia, imposed the maximum sentence on Rodriguez-Cruz after he pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder.
Rodriguez-Cruz had been serving a 12-year sentence for killing his girlfriend Pamela Butler. Butler had gone missing in 2009. He was arrested for Butler’s murder in 2017. Butler’s family told the police that she was about to break up with Rodriguez Cruz when she disappeared. His arrest was made under circumstantial evidence and his eventual confession to killing Butler.
Though Rodriguez-Cruz led the police to a spot along Interstate 95 in Stafford for Butler’s remains, the site had already been dug up for construction and Butler’s remains were never found.
Rodriguez-Cruz’s defender said that he was raised in a home plagued by domestic violence, was placed in foster care early is suffering from untreated post-traumatic stress disorder for decades.
Two months before Marta vanished, Rodriguez-Cruz, a former military police officer, was charged with abducting and assaulting her.
