A tragic discovery was made in Colorado when a mother of three was found deceased in a trash can, more than a week after being reported missing. Shockingly, the woman accused of her murder is the mother of her children.
Thomas Parales faces charges for the murder of 37-year-old Annette Marie Valdez, according to a report by KUSA.
Valdez was last seen on November 28. Her family became concerned when she did not return home after Thanksgiving. On December 4, her body was discovered near Willowbrook Park in Westminster, a suburb just north of Denver.
Authorities arrested Perales the following day. Documents from his arrest reveal he allegedly transported her body, wrapped in blankets and placed in a shopping cart, for several days.
During an interview with the police, Perales reportedly admitted to “blacking out” during an argument with Valdez on Thanksgiving. He confessed to covering her mouth and placing her in a chokehold. When he realized she was unresponsive, he panicked and disposed of her body in a trash can to remove her from the apartment.
Allegedly, Perales told detectives, “You know I killed my wife and paraded her around?”
According to court records and police reports, Perales had a history of domestic violence involving Valdez and her children, most recently on October 24 in Northglenn, when Valdez telephoned her mother and said she was “scared” as Perales tried to pry open her door with a knife or kick it in. She watched the events on a Ring camera.
When officers responded, they found the deadbolt “so damaged they believed it was slightly ajar” and the Ring camera and peephole smeared with red paint. They found Perales nearby, carrying a red paint marker.
He was arrested and charged with domestic violence, violation of a protection order, criminal mischief, and obstructing a peace officer. But he was handed probation sentence and released from jail, leaving him clear to murder Valdez two weeks later.
Police records showed “multiple recent domestic-violence related cases” — 67 in the last two years — relating to Perales and Valdez, who family said had been trying to separate from her eventual killer for years.
“We’ve tried so much to get her away from him,” her brother, Adam Larson, said. “Every single time she went right back [saying,] ‘That’s my kids’ father.’”
Valdez’s three daughters are now staying with family, which is raising money for a funeral and to help support the children.
“We miss our mom more than anything … and she got taken from us … by him,” her daughter, Ace Valdez, told KDVR.
“She is a domestic-violence victim …,” Valdez’s sister-in-law, Analisa Larson, told KUSA. “It changes your brain, so she would let him back.”
But still she filed for protection orders — and court kept letting him back out on the streets.
Perales has now been charged with second-degree murder, violation of a protection order/domestic violence, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. He’s been given a $100,000 bond, according to Adams County jail records.
