Man Sentenced To Life For Killing Wife, Dumping Her Body
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- A Florida man previously found guilty of murdering his wife and dumping her body has been sentenced to life in prison.
It was last summer when Cid Torrez was found guilty of murdering his estranged wife, Vilet. They had 3 children together.
Adding to the intrigue of the case, her body has never been found.
Police and prosecutors said Torrez was enraged about his wife seeing other men after their marriage crumbled. They claim his obsession led him to secretly install spyware on her phone.
Prosecutors argued that on the morning of March 31, 2012, Cid's wife Vilet Torrez was returning to their Miramar townhome when Cid confronted and killed her, then buried her body in the Everglades.
It took the jury 8 hours over two days of deliberations to convict him. Torrez did not testify and has always maintained he's innocent.
It was at sentencing where the case came to a halt in October, when strange words came out of Torres mouth.
"Commander in chief, the witch hunt ends here," Torres said in court last year. "I want to tell this to somebody. To the commander in chief, to the First Lady."
It was that outburst and reports that Torres was hearing voices that prompted a mental health evaluation.
Psychologist Dr. Michael Brannon testified that the legal proceedings lead to Torres having Paranoid Delusional disorder.
"It certainly looks like there was some form of severe depression that resulted in psychotic symptoms directly as a result of the legal situation," said psychologist Dr. Michael Brannon. "So that caused what's commonly called a nervous breakdown or a psychotic break."
It's something that's normally treated with drugs and therapy in a residential setting.
Prosecutors call Torres a manipulator and suggested a solution.
"Prison for the rest of his life will provide Cid Torres with the residential psychiatric setting where he will be monitored forever," said prosecutor Lanie Bandell.
The judge noted the psychiatric issues.
Torres hoped he would get a lighter sentence. That didn't happen.
'Life in prison,' were the words coming from the judge's mouth.
Prosecutors say Torres already sentenced his children and wife's family to the same fate.
"Not only are they missing their daughter, their mother, their sister, they don't know where she is," said Bandell. "They haven't been able to give her a proper burial of their loved one."
Some of Torres' family doesn't feel that way, though.
"We have confidence in God," his cousin Ruth Alonso said in spanish. "He's innocent. There's no body.
Torres' attorney plans to appeal.
"I was looking for a sentence that was certainly less than life in prison," said defense attorney Richard Della. "We're extremely disappointed with the sentence; however this is not the end of the road for Mr. Torres."
