GUILTY TX - Sonia Perez, 39, dies in contract killing, Rio Hondo, 31 March 2011

BROWNSVILLE — The pastor husband of a third-grade teacher whose body was found last week slumped over the steering wheel of her car was charged over the weekend in connection with her shooting death, authorities said.

Julio Cesar Perez, leader of the Ministerios Manantial de Vida church in El Ranchito, was charged with capital murder and ordered held without bail Sunday in Cameron County Jail, accused of orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot that left his 39-year-old wife dead.

Shortly before the discovery late Thursday of Sonia Perez — her foot still on the brake pedal, an identification badge from the Rio Hondo Independent School District still around her neck — Julio Perez reported his wife missing, telling authorities that it was unlike her to not pick up one of their two daughters and immediately return home.
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(more at mysanantonio.com link above)

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A third suspect was arrested Monday, said Sheriff Omar Lucio, who expected the man to also be charged with capital murder and denied bail. Attorney information for the suspects was not immediately available.
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“It's a terrible loss. She was a wonderful teacher,” [Rio Hondo ISD Superintendent Anneliese] McMinn said. “She was very well loved by her staff and by her students and by the parents.”

Burial for Sonia Perez is scheduled for today.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Valley-pastor-accused-of-paying-for-hit-on-1322364.php

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The man who fatally shot Rio Hondo school teacher Sonia Perez pleaded guilty to his role in the murder-for-hire plot allegedly orchestrated by her husband Julio Cesar Perez.

District Judge Arturo Cisneros Nelson sentenced Daniel Lopez to life in prison without parole Thursday afternoon.

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A fifth person indicted in what prosecutors say was a murder-for-hire plot to kill Rio Hondo teacher Sonia E. Perez entered a last-minute plea deal Monday.

Gabriel Apolinar Escalante, 20, was sentenced to 30 years in state prison for murder...

Mark Daniel Garza, 23, was sentenced to 10 years in prison based on a plea of guilty to tampering with physical evidence...

Defendant Alfredo Castañeda, 39, pleaded guilty to manslaughter Jan. 19 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Daniel Castañeda, 23, pleaded guilty in October to murder and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

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An El Ranchito pastor, who hired a hit man to kill his wife, was formally sentenced to 45 years in prison.

On Tuesday Julio Cesar Perez plead guilty to hiring several men to murder his wife, Sonia Perez, last year.

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