Police say a Mesa woman was beaten to death with a toilet tank lid until it broke after she confronted her estranged husband at his Tolleson residence for selling her jewelry to a pawn shop without her permission.
Edgardo Luis Claudio-Marrero, 48, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder Saturday in connection to the beating death of Sreymom Claudio, 33.
The woman had arrived at the house in the 8700 block of Washington Street after dropping off her boyfriend at a nearby restaurant. After waiting for three hours, her boyfriend, Jerry Turner, took a taxi to Claudio-Marrero’s home and called police. Officers knocked on the door of the home for about 15 minutes before Claudio-Marrero came outside and surrendered.
Claudio-Marrero told police he pawned his wife’s jewelry because he was having money trouble and confronted her about a relationship with another man she had hidden. Claudio-Marrero said he then “snapped” and attacked her, punching and pushing her into a downstairs bathroom before dragging her body to an upstairs bathroom. Police discovered her body in the bathtub.
Claudio died of blunt force trauma to the head, according to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Claudio-Marrero also said Turner and Claudio were co-workers and that he believed Turner kept him from advancement at a manufacturing company when he worked there, and that he saw pictures of them on Facebook.
There had been no prior history of violence between the married couple, according to Sgt. Rudy Mendoza, a spokesman for the Tolleson Police Department.
“It was definitely out of the blue,” Mendoza said of the incident.
Claudio-Marrero is being held in a Maricopa County jail on $750,000 bond. He has been charged with second-degree murder and is scheduled to appear in Maricopa County Superior Court for a preliminary hearing on July 5, according to court documents.
Contact writer: (480) 898-6533 or msakal@evtrib.com
Juggernaut8000 posted at 7:22 pm on Wed, Jun 27, 2012.
I bet is was really because she nagged him about putting the seat lid down.
Carolyn posted at 8:46 pm on Wed, Jun 27, 2012.
Where in H*** are these people from? I've lived in Arizona all my life and have known MANY great Mexican-Americans through the years - but I have NEVER seen any named the same as this "lovely" couple - obviously, they are not from Mexico.
az2008 posted at 9:55 pm on Wed, Jun 27, 2012.
At least he had the common sense to remove her from the downstairs bathroom to the one upstairs. Most toilet-lid berserkers don't do that.
I'd also like to commend the Trib for allowing comments on any story. Another local news source wouldn't allow comments on stories even half as sensitive as this.