A jury in Virginia convicted a man Thursday of stabbing, bludgeoning and burning a woman to death who he thought was his ex-girlfriend, Fox News reported.
Richard Montano, 48, murdered the mother of two on Aug. 10, 2022, according to Fox News. He allegedly mistakenly thought the victim was his ex-girlfriend, who had dumped him one month earlier, prosecutors said.
An autopsy on the victim, Silvia “Kelly” Vaca Abacay, 40, revealed 10 stab wounds and blunt force trauma injuries as well as burns, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Mom Allegedly Stabs 3-Year-Old Daughter To Death)
Just In: Jurors found a man guilty of murder and arson for a brutal killing in the Seven Corners area. Silvia Vaca Abacay’s attacker had meant to kill his ex-girlfriend, not Vaca Abacay, after she broke up with him, prosecutors said. https://t.co/H6agiqhmND
— NBC4 Washington (@nbcwashington) October 5, 2023
“As Commonwealth’s Attorney, I’ve seen considerable crime scenes and photos, but the photos from this case stood out in terms of the victims’ injuries,” Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano wrote in a press release. “This case exhibited some of the most disturbing crime scenes I’ve ever encountered.”
Abacay was staying with Montano’s former girlfriend, Via Rosas, who had ended an eight-year relationship with Montano at the end of July 2022, according to the release.
Trial evidence showed that on the afternoon of the murder, Montano had entered the apartment with the likely intention of killing Rosas, Descano noted. A neighbor, whose Ring doorbell camera had caught Montano entering, “called 911 four times after hearing screaming and banging from across the hall.”
“Listen to the pain and anguish in Silvia’s voice as she is screaming for her life,” prosecutors who played the 911 call during the trial said, according to NBC Washington. “The screaming and banging continued for 15 minutes that Silvia Abacay endured a violent attack that left Apartment 101 in carnage.”
“He quite literally went for the jugular. He went for the face, the head, the neck. He’s going to where it will inflict the most damage,” prosecutors said. “He lit a body on fire to cover up a gruesome murder … He murdered the wrong person and now he needs to cover his tracks.”
First responders battled a cloud of smoke billowing from the apartment and found blood running down the walls upon entering, WUSA9.com reported. Rescuers were unable to revive Abacay, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The victim left behind two teenage children, her husband and many relatives and friends, Fox News reported.
At his sentencing in January 2024, Montano will face life in prison for first-degree murder and arson, the outlet reported.