Bizarre Texas Crime
Faked home-invasion plot results in Texas 'victim' charged with husband's murder
The 2012 murder of Jaime Melgar is one step closer to being solved. Houston police arrested his wife, Sandra Melgar, on July 29. She is accused of staging a home invasion and stabbing her husband to death on December 23, 2012 — the couple's 32nd wedding anniversary.
For almost two years, the bizarre crime has puzzled Harris County authorities, who initially believed the crime was a deadly home invasion. According to 2012 reports, when relatives arrived at the couple's suburban home to celebrate their anniversary, they found Jaime dead in one closet and Sandra tied up in another. She told police she'd "blacked out" but thought robbers were to blame.
The couple's garage door was open, leaving police to believe someone had broken in. But nothing was missing from the home, and police wondered why Sandra remained unharmed but Jaime was killed. Sandra, then a 52-year-old with no previous criminal history, was interviewed by police but wasn't charged for 18 months.
A Harris County grand jury indicted Sandra Melgar for murder last month. Citing the ongoing investigation, representatives from the Harris County Sheriff's Department declined to elaborate on the case.
Sandra, who has since moved from Houston to College Station, spent just one day in jail before her bond was cut in half from $100,000 to $50,000. She was released on bail and is due back in court on August 14.