Unravelling Marriage Gives Clues To Gruesome Murder
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - An unravelling marriage may provide a motive in the gruesome murder of a Fort Worth mother of four.
Elizabeth Arellano's bound body was weighed down with a concrete boulder and tossed off the Lake Worth Bridge in the early morning hours of April 16. According to the arrest warrant affidavit in the case, a witness "…described hearing what sounded like screams on the way down."
Neighbor Diana Ramos was stunned that the tragedy had hit so close to home. "How can somebody do something like that? I don't understand how people can be so evil and so mean, to another human being."
The 28-year-old's estranged husband, Rodolfo Arellano was charged with capital murder in her death. Bail is set at $500,000.
Elizabeth's family today declined to discuss the suspect—preferring instead to stress to reporters that the lovely young mother of four was so much more than the awful way she died. "Everybody you met will tell you: … my sister always had a great smile on her face," says Johanna Kelly. Kelly called her younger sister the "glue" that held the family together… the one that was always keeping tabs and checking up on everyone. "Why didn't you answer? Call me back! Text me back! She was on top of all of us… glue to the family."
Her marriage however, was coming apart. According to documents obtained by CBS11, her estranged husband Rodolfo Arellano was most likely waiting outside her parents' home when she returned in the early morning hours of April 16th. He told police that he was at home sleeping when she disappeared. But, according to the arrest warrant affidavit, police pinged his cell phone to confirm that he was in the area… and then his truck was captured on surveillance cameras installed at nearby businesses.
The couple has four children, ages 4 to 12. But, family members insist that they have not been orphaned.
"I have three kids, now I have seven," says Kelly. "We're all going to come together…we're all a family and we're going to take care of those kids. They're our main priority. And they're our main concern."
