An Ogden man was so angry that his wife had an affair and was leaving him that he bludgeoned her, left her to bleed to death and then told jail cellmates about the killing, a prosecutor said Monday.
Stephen Vargas, 41, is standing trial in 2nd District Court on a first-degree murder charge in the death of his wife, Rebecca, 27. Her body was found Dec. 28, 1995, outside the Ogden apartment into which she was preparing to move.Deputy Weber County Attorney Bill Daines said during the trial's opening arguments Monday that Vargas first asked his brother to kill Rebecca Vargas. He was angry, Daines said, because his wife was having an affair with a Harrisville police officer.
But defense attorney Stephen Laker asked jurors to consider whether police rushed to judgment in focusing on Vargas as the prime suspect. He suggested police overlooked key facts and other possible suspects.
There were no witnesses to the beating.
Dr. Maureen Frikke of the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office testified the victim lived for some time after the beating. The evidence indicated she originally was left lying face down, but at some point was turned over on her back, Frikke said.
A large pool of blood from her head was found at her feet. She bled to death, Frikke said.
Frikke identified eight wounds to her skull, several of which fractured it, forcing bone fragments into the brain. Other wounds were found on her face and shoulder, some sustained after she died, Frikke testified.
Daines said that five days before the killing, Vargas talked to his brother, Robert Esquibel in Cheyenne, Wyo., on the phone and said he was disgusted with Rebecca.
" `I would like you to kill Becky,' " Daines quoted Vargas as saying.