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Armando Zamora and Erica Zamora (Images via New Mexico State Police)
A New Mexico man pleaded guilty to killing his wife with an ax while he was on probation for criminal sexual contact with a minor and wearing a GPS ankle monitor.
Armando Zamora, 38, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and admission of identity — habitual offender in the death of his wife, Erica Zamora, 39, according to his plea and disposition agreement obtained by Law&Crime.
Zamora was sentenced to 16 years for second-degree murder and four years each for two counts of tampering with evidence. The sentences will be served consecutively.
His defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Law&Crime.
As Law&Crime previously reported, he pleaded guilty in 2019 to criminal sexual contact with a minor under the age of 13 and had a pending divorce with his wife.
He had been out on supervised probation and was wearing an ankle monitor at the time he killed his wife following an argument.
Erica Zamora was last seen on Sept. 26, 2021. State police said that the woman was officially reported missing on Oct. 1, days after she was killed in the Gila National Forest.
It did not take long for authorities to identify Armando Zamora as a suspect, and the ankle monitor had much to do with that.
New Mexico State Police say that the suspect’s ankle monitor data undercut Zamora’s story of where he and Erica Zamora were from Sept. 26 to Sept. 28. The suspect allegedly said that he and Erica cut wood in a forest on Sept. 26 before returning home. Then he allegedly said he dropped Erica off at her residence early Tuesday morning, Sept. 28th.
From police:
On Friday, October 1, 2021, the New Mexico State Police in Silver City received a report of a missing person, Erica Zamora, who had not been seen or heard from since September 26, 2021. The New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau was called to investigate the incident. Through the investigation, agents learned that on the morning of Sunday, September 26, 2021, Erica and her husband, Armando Zamora went to cut firewood in the forest. According to Mr. Zamora, they returned to his house and he dropped Erica off at her residence at approximately 7:30 a.m., on Tuesday, September 28, 2021. Agents learned Armando was currently on probation for criminal sexual contact of a minor (under 13) and wears an ankle monitor. With that information, New Mexico State Police investigators obtained GPS coordinates where Armando and Erica had been cutting wood. A sergeant searched the area and located a deceased female matching the description of Erica Zamora. The female was pronounced dead by the Office of the Medical Investigator and was positively identified as Erica Zamora.
According to authorities, Zamora admitted to the ax murder. This was after Zamora was cornered about ankle monitor data evidence: He did not drop the victim off at her house on Sept. 28 as he claimed. GPS data also placed Zamora at the scene where the victim’s body was found.
“Agents interviewed Armando on October 3, 2021. During the interview, Armando admitted to beating Erica to death with an axe,” police said. Zamora allegedly claimed that the victim punched him before he beat her to death with the ax. The murder weapon was reportedly found in the suspect’s home.
Law&Crime’s Matt Naham contributed to this report.
