Man sentenced to 25 years-to-life for murdering wife at Tulare County home in 2018
A Porterville man was sentenced Thursday to 25 years-to-life in prison for the first-degree murder of his wife, prosecutors said.
A jury convicted Victor Lopez, 37, on Nov. 16 for killing 31-year-old Samantha Quintanar-Lopez. Lopez was convicted of murder and felony domestic violent causing great bodily injury.
Deputies were called to a home in Porterville around 10 a.m. Nov. 27, 2018, for a welfare check after Quintanar-Lopez’s co-workers became concerned after she didn’t report to work.
At the home, deputies contacted Lopez, who told them he and Quintanar-Lopez had an argument the night before, and that she left around midnight. A 9-year-old daughter of Quintanar-Lopez told authorities that her mother was not at the home.
At 1:20 p.m., another welfare check was requested by Quintanar-Lopez’s ex-husband.
Deputies contacted Lopez and he refused entry into the home and locked himself inside with the victim’s children: two 9-year-old girls and a 2-year-old boy.
Prosecutors said Lopez attempted to flee the home through a window before he was caught after a foot pursuit.
Deputies did a search of the home and discovered Quintanar-Lopez covered in a pile of blankets with a green shopping bag covering her head.
The cause of death was determined to be manual suffocation, prosecutors said.
This story was originally published February 2, 2023 at 3:39 PM.
