Mirabal given life without parole
Teresa/Colorado
Man who killed wife given life sentence after emotional scene
By Kevin McCullen
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
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BOULDER - Natalie Mirabal's family peppered her unrepentant husband, Matthew
Mirabal, Thursday with haunting questions about a murder that will keep him
behind bars for life.
"Did you love her? Did you love your daughter? Would you tell me why you
killed her? What got into you, man? Why? All I want to know is why?" asked
Nehemiah Vasquez, the murdered woman's brother.
Natalie Mirabal's family and friends packed a Boulder courtroom for
Thursday's sentencing.
Matthew Mirabal never answered Vasquez's question, nor did he express any
remorse for killing his childhood sweetheart and mother of their infant
daughter in September 1999.
A jury convicted Mirabal, 21, in June of first-degree murder for strangling
his wife and leaving her body in Left Hand Canyon north of Boulder.
Mirabal received a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole from
Boulder District Judge Dan Hale, who heard Natalie Mirabal's family describe
their grief and anger.
Matthew Mirabal, his brother and mother and members of his Platteville
church continued Thursday to insist he was innocent of Boulder County's only
murder in 1999. His brother, Marques, expressed sorrow for Natalie's death
but continued to insist someone else killed her.
"I maintain my plea of innocence from the beginning of this trial," said
Mirabal, who showed no expression when members of his late wife's family
tearfully called him a "devil."
"I believe the appeals court will give me the justice I deserve."
He never mentioned his wife or daughter in his brief statement, which
further angered his late wife's family.
Prosecutors contended Mirabal killed his wife to collect on a $250,000 life
insurance policy. Authorities also contended a potential motive was an
affair Mirabal allegedly had with his brother's wife.
Natalie's family wore white T-shirts with a photograph of Natalie and the
words, "In loving memory, Natalie Jean." Later, about 25 members of her
family went to the site in Left Hand Canyon where her body was found.
Her mother, Enselma Vasquez, also criticized the pastor and the Platteville
Apostolic Church for its unwavering support of Matthew Mirabal.
"You hated everyone, remember? You piled your hatred onto Natalie, who loved
you the most," Enselma Vasquez said, staring at Mirabal. "She thought she
loved you, but she was sleeping with the enemy. What a coward. Be a man,
confess."
Contact Kevin McCullen at (303) 442-8729 or mccu...@RockyMountainNews.com.
September 8, 2000
Teresa/Colorado
By Christopher Anderson
Camera Staff Writer
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Kneeling in a secluded mountain gully where her 24-year-old daughter's
beaten and strangled body was found a year ago, Enselma Vasquez wept
uncontrollably.
"I am just so horrified," she said. "I just picture her lying here so
helpless, and wish I would have been able to help her."
Only an hour before Vasquez's visit Thursday to the Lefthand Canyon scene,
Matthew Mirabal was given a mandatory sentence of life in prison without
parole for the first-degree murder of Vasquez's daughter and his wife,
Natalie Mirabal. In a brief statement before the sentencing, Matthew Mirabal
said he was wrongly convicted of the murder and decapitation, and that he
plans to appeal his case.
"I would like to state I am displeased with the criminal justice system. I
believe the appellate court will give me the justice I deserve," said
Mirabal, 21. "All I can say is I maintain my plea of innocence."
Mirabal didn't mention his wife or his 1-year-old daughter, Mikaela Mirabal.
Mirabal's brother, Marcus Mirabal, made a plea before television news
cameras outside the courtroom for the real killer to "step forward."
District Judge Dan Hale told Matthew Mirabal he believed the criminal
justice system worked.
"I think the trial was a fair trial," said Hale, just before handing down
the sentence and clearing the courtroom for his next case.
Matthew Mirabal reported his wife missing Sept. 26 and told police he
believed she could have been the victim of a car-jacking that went wrong.
He was arrested Oct. 22, after laboratory tests confirmed that his blood was
on a pair of gloves and other clothing found in his wife's abandoned car at
a Longmont Safeway store.
He was convicted at a trial on June 29 after prosecutors alleged he killed
his wife to collect on a $250,000 life insurance policy and was having an
affair with his brother's wife.
At Thursday's sentencing, more than 20 of Natalie Mirabal's family members,
many of them from her home state of New Mexico, wore white T-shirts bearing
Natalie's photo and the words "In loving memory of Natalie Jean."
Mikaela, who recently was placed in the custody of Natalie's mother, also
wore one of the shirts at a motel where she was being baby-sat, family
members said.
Trip DeMuth, the lead prosecutor on the case who recently resigned after an
unsuccessful bid for district attorney, sat behind the prosecution's table
for a front-row view of the proceedings.
One after the other, Natalie Mirabal's family members chastised Matthew
Mirabal for not showing remorse, some pointing out the cruel realities he
faces in prison. They also reminded him that one day, someone would have to
tell his daughter that he killed her mother.
Mirabal, sitting at the defense table, stared each family member in the eyes
as they spoke, never showing emotion.
Natalie Mirabal's brother, Nehemiah Vasquez, who was living with her at the
time, said he had only one question.
"Why?" he asked repeatedly, looking directly at Mirabal.
"Did you love your daughter? Answer me," he said angrily. "You have caused a
lot of pain in all our lives. ... You have a long time to think about it. A
long time."
Enselma Vasquez demanded that Matthew Mirabal confess.
"Be a man and admit it," she said.
Vasquez reminded Mirabal that his own mother said early in the case that
"only a demon-possessed person" could have killed Natalie.
"That was you," Vasquez said.
Vasquez then turned her anger to Matthew Mirabal's supporters from the
Platteville Apostolic Church. Vasquez called it a "hypocritical church" that
manipulated its members and failed to cooperate with the investigation.
Matthew Mirabal's mother, Patricia Mirabal, spoke in his defense.
"My son is innocent but has been convicted," Patricia Mirabal said.
Marcus Mirabal said he will maintain his brother's innocence "until the day
I leave this earth."
"It is human nature to want to blame somebody, and unfortunately the blame
just happened to fall on my brother," he said.
After his speech, Marcus turned from the podium, ripped up his notes and
stormed out the courtroom doors, followed by the Rev. Troy Hancock, minister
of the Platteville Apostolic Church.
Natalie Mirabal's family left the courtroom after the sentencing to tour the
crime scene in Lefthand Canyon. Later in the day, they gave a baby shower
for Mikaela.
Before the sentencing hearing began, Hale rejected a motion by Mirabal's
defense attorney, Steve Jacobson, for a mistrial ruling.
"Justice was done in the case," said Deputy District Attorney Kathy Delgado,
who helped prosecute the case. "It was a well-fought case, and he had good
attorneys."
Contact Christopher Anderson at (303) 473-1355 or
ande...@thedailycamera.com.
September 8, 2000
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mirabal gets life term for killing wife
By Monte Whaley
Denver Post Staff Writer
Sept. 8, 2000 - BOULDER - Relatives of Natalie Mirabal taunted her husband
Thursday before he was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of
parole for her slaying.
"Hey, you look good in chains, bro," Natalie's brother, Jeremiah Vasquez,
told 21-year-old Matthew Mirabal. "How could you kill your own wife?
"Tell Big Bubba when you get behind bars."
Matthew Mirabal was convicted of first-degree murder by a Boulder County
jury in July. Police said Mirabal strangled his 24-year-old wife, cut off
her head and dumped her body last September in Lefthand Canyon.
The conviction carried a mandatory life sentence. But Thursday's sentencing
hearing was important because it allowed Natalie Mirabal's family to finally
confront Matthew Mirabal in court, said prosecutor Kathy Delgado.
Mirabal sat stoically during the hearing before telling a packed courtroom
he was innocent. "I have to state that I am highly displeased with the
criminal-justice system," Mirabal said.
An appeals court will hear his case and eventually overturn the conviction,
Mirabal said.
Later, outside the courtroom, Mirabal's brother went before television
cameras and asked that Natalie Mirabal's real killer turn himself in to
police.
"We do now and we always will maintain his innocence," Marcus Mirabal said.
Mirabal, a former Longmont house painter, and Natalie Vasquez were childhood
sweethearts. They met as young teens in New Mexico and followed their pastor
and others to the Longmont area to start the Platteville Apostolic Church.
Prosecutors and police said Mirabal was having an affair with his brother's
wife and tried to take out a $1 million life insurance policy on Natalie
weeks before her body was found.
Her body was discovered hours after her husband reported her missing early
on Sept. 26, 1999.
Police said Mirabal tried to make it appear Natalie Mirabal was kidnapped
from a grocery store parking lot.
In fact, he strangled her, took her body to the canyon and decapitated her,
and then drove her car back to the parking lot, said prosecutors.
They cited a link between bloodstains found on a pair of gloves and black
pants in Natalie Mirabal's car and blood on Matthew Mirabal's shoes and
flashlight as physical evidence of his guilt.
Defense lawyers contended that Natalie Mirabal was the victim of a vicious
carjacking. The Mirabal family says law officers conspired against Matthew.
"God only knows who did it," Matthew Mirabal's mother, Patricia, said
Thursday. "Maybe there is a murderer in her family."
The Mirabals had a daughter, 15-month-old Mikaela, who is now in the custody
of the Vasquez family. The Mirabals, who live in the same New Mexico town,
have supervised visitations with the girl.
The Vasquez family made it clear during the hearing that Matthew Mirabal has
no moral right to be Mikaela's father.
They came to court wearing white T-shirts with a photo of Natalie on the
front. On the opposite side of the courtroom aisle sat the Mirabal family
and members of Mirabal's church.
Sheriff's deputies kept both sides separated. But the ill will still flowed
between them.
"I don't consider you a human being," Natalie's mother, Enselma Vasquez,
yelled at Mirabal. "Was it worth it? Was it?"
"You and your family and your hypocritical church have put us through hell,"
Vasquez said.
Natalie's cousin, Amanda Vann, told Mirabal on Thursday he will never be
forgiven for killing Natalie. "You had the guts to cut someone's head off.
Now you have to have the guts to face the music," Vann said.