Inside the Brutal Story of Jaime Melgar— They Were Best Friends, Sandra Melgar's Daughter Tells Her Story.

Sandra and Jaime Melgar's story began 32 years before the tragedy that struck. The pair started dating while they were students at Lamar High School in Houston, Texas. Sandra, a new student from Laredo, Texas, caught the eye of Jaime, who had spent most of his life in Houston after immigrating from Guatemala with his family. Their high school love waxed strong and by 1980, just two years post-graduation, they were married.

Five years into their marriage, they were blessed with a baby girl they named Elizabeth “Lizz” Melgar Rose.

Jaime was her beacon while she battled health issues. Sandra was diagnosed with lupus and epilepsy which led to her early retirement as a vocational nurse.

The Tragedy

The tragedy that led to the death of Jaime Melgar unfolded on the night of December 23, 2012, in their home in Houston. It was supposed to be the celebration of their 32nd anniversary. Sadly, when family and friends came to celebrate with them, they found Jaime in a closet, stabbed and bludgeoned to death. In another closet, Sandra was found bound and duct taped. The house was in disarray as if it had been ransacked; the drawers were pulled out and items strewn about.

On the lifeless body of Jaime, there were more than 50 wounds from cuts, stabs, and blunt force. 31 of those wounds were classified as defensive, showing he had fought hard to restrain his attacker. On the flip side, Sandra had no defensive wounds.

When Sandra was loosened from her restraints, she asked about her husband and said that they were attacked by an intruder. She also stated that her memory of the events that unfolded was fuzzy because she believed she started convulsing when the attacker entered the home.

The murder weapon which was a knife from their kitchen was found at the scene. Sandra's story was inconsistent, and her narrative of a home invasion didn't sit well with the investigators as there was no forced entry.

Trial and Conviction

Sandra was charged with the murder of her husband a year and six months after her husband's death. Three years later, her trial began. The prosecutors argued that she had murdered her husband to obtain his life insurance policy of $500,000, they also argued that she had staged the scene to mislead investigators.

The prosecutors also stated that Sandra had been unhappy in the marriage but was unable to leave because she was a member of Jehovah's Witness and would be ostracized if she divorced her husband. They claimed this was her premeditated exit plan.

The defense opposed the prosecutors' theories, emphasizing the lack of any physical evidence to adequately link Sandra to the crime.

The jury found Sandra guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced her to 27 years in prison. She is currently serving her sentence at the Carol Young Complex, a minimum-security facility in Dickinson, Texas.

In a more recent development, DNA that was recovered from the crime scene was tested and it was discovered that it belonged to an unknown male. The Innocence Project of Texas is now exploring this new development hoping to free Sandra from her shackles.

Elizabeth Melgar Rose

They were "best friends" Elizabeth Rose described her parents. She was distraught to see her mother, Sandra Melgar, convicted for the murder of her father, Jaime Melgar.

She has yielded her unwavering support for her mother throughout her trial and subsequent conviction. She strongly believes her mother is innocent of the charges labeled against her. In one of her interviews, she recounted the loving relationship that existed between her parents before her father's tragic death.

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