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FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas - After nearly 24 years, one man is finally behind bars for the murder of his wife in 1999 in Fort Bend County, officials say.
On Tuesday, 71-year-old Apolinar Tejeda from Houston was convicted of Murder and sentenced to life in prison by a Fort Bend County for the shooting death of his wife.
According to court officials, employees at Aramark Corporation in Stafford found Rosa Liberato, a fellow employee, shot dead in her car on Oct. 13, 1999.
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A manager at the business told police they saw a suspicious car in the parking lot when he came into work at 5:30 a.m. Police heard from other witnesses they also heard gunshots around 5:45 a.m.
Investigators were able to later identify Tejeda as a suspect in Liberato's death.
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According to witnesses, Tejeda borrowed a family member's car early that morning before the shooting and afterward, left it at a friend's home. The manager confirmed it was the suspicious car he saw that morning in the parking lot.
After the murder, Tejeda immediately left Texas and was believed to be in California, Mexico, and North Carolina at various times. Stafford detectives weren't able to locate Tejeda during that time and found out he used several aliases.
Apolinar Tejeda (Photo courtesy of Fort Bend County)
In 2018, they were able to apprehend Tejeda thanks to a tip. Someone informed officials he was in North Carolina and federal agents along with local authorities arrested him in August 2018 for the 1999 murder of Liberato.
During the trial, Liberato's son testified saying in the weeks before the murder when he was 14, his father, Tejeda, threatened to harm Liberato. Her daughter also testified telling officials she overheard a similar conversation between Liberato and Tejeda, two days before the murder.
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Testimonies from other family members also mentioned the rocky relationship between the two.
According to court records, it took the jury less than an hour to find Tejeda guilty of Murder and another 30 minutes to deliver his sentence. They also assessed the maximum $10,000 fine.
"The defendant avoided responsibility for this horrific crime for far too long," said lead prosecutor Sunni Mitchell. "We are grateful to the jury for rendering a swift and just verdict holding Apolinar Tejeda accountable for his actions. After 24 years, justice was finally obtained for Rosa Liberato and her family."