Background: Russo Road in Fort Pierce, Florida, the location where Tania Wise’s remains were discovered in 2018 (Google Maps). Insets (left to right): Jose Soto-Escalera and Tania Wise (St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office).
A Florida man who is married has been charged with murdering his pregnant girlfriend after giving her $500 for an abortion. The trial is set to begin as he allegedly ended her life weeks before she was supposed to deliver the baby.
Jose Soto-Escalera, aged 48, is being charged with two counts each of first-degree and second-degree murder. This comes seven years after the discovery of 23-year-old Tania Wise’s body on a rural road on August 24, 2018. The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office detailed these charges in their report.
Throughout the investigation, authorities uncovered information regarding the interactions between Soto-Escalera and Wise prior to the alleged murder.
The arrest report reviewed by Law&Crime revealed that Wise had informed Soto-Escalera she was carrying his child and requested money for an abortion. Furthermore, the report indicated that Wise had threatened to disclose the matter to his wife if he failed to provide her with the money she demanded.
Detectives spoke with a witness who was present when Wise contacted Soto-Escalera to inform him about her pregnancy and her need for abortion funds, according to police.
After Soto-Escalera had agreed to pay for the abortion and Wise hung up the phone, she told the witness that “if she used Jose’s wife against him, she could get anything she wanted.” According to the affidavit, Soto-Escalera’s wife did not know that he and Wise were having a sexual relationship.
Soto-Escalera and Wise met up later that day, and the defendant allegedly gave Wise $500 for an abortion. But according to a witness who spoke to police, Wise did not get the abortion and gave the money to someone else.
Another witness told police that three days before Wise’s body was discovered, they spoke with Soto-Escalera, who was “mad because Wise ‘played him'” when she did not use the money to get an abortion. Soto-Escalera also allegedly asked the witness about finding a “dirty gun.”
In an interview with police after Wise’s body was found, Soto-Escalera allegedly said that he had never had sex with Wise, but admitted that she stripped for him. During his interview, he agreed to a DNA test and allowed his cellphone to be searched.
When the DNA test came back, police confirmed that Soto-Escalera was the father of Wise’s unborn baby boy. Wise’s family had named the baby Josiah.
Cellphone data showed Soto-Escalera and Wise called each other several times on Aug. 23, the night before her body was found, police said. His cellphone had allegedly pinged at the location where Wise’s body was found the following day.
Soto-Escalera’s cellphone records also revealed what prosecutors believe were incriminating Google searches hours before Wise’s body was found, including searches for “dead body in woods” and “wooded area dead body,” police said. The defendant also clicked on four related links from those searches, authorities added.
Local CW affiliate WTVX reported that prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Soto-Escalera. His trial began with jury selection on Wednesday.
