Joselina Lopez, 26, didn’t quite make it out of the United States with the dismembered body of Benito Guzman, 41, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
The elaborate escape plot fell apart when Guzman’s boss reported him missing to the Geneva County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, August 27, per AL.com.
This triggered a welfare check at his home Slocomb, Alabama where police discovered a “strong odor of decomposition emanating” from the Toyota Corrolla parked behind the house, per the probable cause arrest affidavit seen by Law & Crime.
Police then searched the vehicle, where they recovered a .22-caliber revolver with five of its six cartridges spent, and trash bags containing human remains that had been cut into 10 to 15 pieces in the trunk and back seat. An autopsy of the remains positively identified them as Guzman, and uncovered two bullets in his body.
According to police, Lopez had also put into the vehicle an electric chainsaw from Lowe’s that she had not been cleaned after it was allegedly used to dismember Guzman’s body, meaning it “still had human flesh on it.”
She also had cleaning supplies, a box of baby formula with blood on it, and a diaper bag, per the legal document. Police believe that their 4-year-old child, who has autism and birth defects, was in the home when the murder took place. They also believe it was her intention to flee the country with the child and Guzman’s remains.
Inside the home, per local station WDHN, deputies also discovered a pistol, hatchet, two knives, and two additional chainsaws, as well as receipts for these purchases. She had originally bought four chainsaws, but returned one, per authorities.
Investigator Philip Shuler, speaking at Lopez’s bond hearing on Tuesday, testified that officers found chainsaw markings on the floor. He stated that investigators believe Guzman was shot five times before he was dismembered.
After Lopez was arrested and charged with one count of intentional murder, she was taken to the Geneva County Jail. While there, she reportedly told a relative on the phone, “I should have left earlier.”
According to WDHN, Lopez told a judge she killed Guzman in self-defense and asked that she be released on bond before her trial. She claimed Guzman owed someone money for drugs and her family was being threatened over it.
Her attorney further denied the prosecution’s claims that she knows people in Mexico. It is believed she was attempting to flee there or to Guatemala where she purportedly has family. She had her passport and her child’s birth certificate in a second car with a packed diaper bag, per investigators.
Despite protests from her attorney, and her willingness to wear an ankle monitor, her request was denied, with the judge reportedly saying that evidence in this case was “clear and convincing,” and Lopez may be a danger to herself and others.
Her next court hearing is scheduled for September 11. Lopez faces life in prison if convicted in Guzman’s murder.
