Husband fakes his own death to prove his wife hired hitman to kill him

Texas police officers photographed Ramon Sosa lying in shallow grave

Zamira Rahim
Thursday 12 September 2019 15:20 BST
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Husband fakes death to incriminate wife

A man has explained how he faked his death to prove his wife had hired a hitman to murder him.

Roman Sosa, from Houston, Texas, worked with detectives and a close friend in 2015 after officers realised that his wife Maria was planning to have him killed.

An acquaintance of the couple, known as Mundo, had contacted police officers in Texas and said Ms Sosa asked him to find someone to murder her husband.

The couple met in 2007 and were going through a contentious divorce by 2015.

“Those moments when I first heard that Lulu wanted to have me killed were surreal,” Mr Sosa told The Sun.

“The words kind of hung in the air for a split second and when I began to process the message, the words fell into my brain one by one.”

An undercover police officer arranged to meet Ms Sosa in a car park in July 2015.

She offered the man $2,000 (£1,600) and her husband’s truck to have Roman Sosa murdered.

The 45-year-old was worried about her income if her husband were to divorce her, according to ESPN.

Mr Sosa, aware of his wife’s plan, was forced to carry on as normal.

“It hit me that I still had to live under the same roof with the person planning to have me murdered,” he said.

“Yes, I slept with the enemy and with one eye open, all while trying to act as “normal” as possible so Lulu would continue with her plan. Keep in mind, that was the only way we could catch her in the act.”

To further incriminate his wife, the Texas Rangers staged photographs, featuring an apparently dead Mr Sosa lying in a grave.

Mr Sosa’s face was painted to give the impression that he had been shot in the head.

“That picture, to this day, reflects one of the most difficult things I have ever done in my life,” he said.

An undercover police officer, posing as a hitman, later showed Ms Sosa the photographs.

She reportedly smiled and shook his hand.

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Detectives in uniform later approached Ms Sosa and questioned the 45-year-old about her husband’s whereabouts, arresting her after she denied knowing where he was.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree felony solicitation of murder.

The couple have since divorced and Mr Sosa has now written a book about the ordeal.

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