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In December 2007, Delia Lerma was busy preparing tamales when her husband mentioned they were out of masa. Wearing her red kitchen apron, she left for the store but never returned home. Tragically, four days later, Delia was discovered in the back of the family’s van, having been fatally stabbed in the abdomen.
The case of the 33-year-old mother of four has remained unsolved, but it recently received renewed attention on the November 1 episode of Cold Justice. Prosecutor Kelly Siegler and homicide investigator Steve Spingola joined forces with the South Bend Police Department to re-examine the circumstances surrounding Delia’s death. They aimed to uncover whether her murder could be connected to rumors of an extramarital affair or her husband’s alleged jealousy.
Delia and Lucio Lerma’s relationship began in their Texas high school, where they fell in love. The couple eventually married, settled in South Bend, Indiana, and had four children together.
What Happened to Delia Lerma?
Delia was a devoted stay-at-home mom, cherished for her passion for children, her involvement in church activities, and her culinary skills.
Leticia Burgos, Delia’s sister, noted that the couple experienced several “good years of marriage” before things began to deteriorate in their relationship.
According to Delia’s sister Leticia Burgos, the couple shared some “good years of marriage,” before their life together began to take a turn.
“He wanted to have control of everything and anything, like he wanted to have control of Delia in every sense,” Burgos recalled. “I was never able to have a conversation with Delia in private.”
There were also rumors that Delia was having a clandestine affair with her brother-in-law Manuel—a claim he later denied to investigators.
Tragically, Delia’s life came to an end on Dec. 4, 2007. Lucio told investigators that he came home from work early to find his wife in the kitchen making tamales. According to his account, she left around 2 p.m. to go the grocery store after running out of masa. Lucio said she left her purse behind because his wallet was inside the van.
Four days later, police found the van abandoned on a street blocks away from her home. The car key was still in the ignition and on, although by then the van was out of gas. Delia’s wedding ring was found discarded on the floor near the front console.
Her body was found in the backseat. She’d been stabbed twice in the stomach.
. As Det. Craig Whitfield explained, “It went up and hit the heart and spleen and diaphragm and she lay there and bled to death.”
Her pants had been pulled down and her underwear was pushed to the side.
Investigators also learned that Delia had been carrying a secret cell phone at the time of her death, possibly to communicate with Manuel—who was confirmed to be in Michigan at the time of her death.
Witnesses Describe a Controlling Marriage
With Manuel ruled out as a possible suspect, the Cold Justice team set out to learn more about Delia and Lucio’s marriage from the couple’s friends and coworkers.
“When questioned by police, Delia Lerma’s husband Lucio claimed that the marriage was in good standing but witnesses claim she was having a secret affair with Lucio’s brother Manuel,” Spingola noted. “If Lucio found out abut that could that have been the motive in this killing?”
In the weeks leading up to the murder, Lucio’s coworker Tom Parsons told the team that Lucio had been complaining that his wife was “up to no good” and cheating on him. According to Parsons, Lucio even asked him to help set up cameras to spy on Delia, although Parsons declined to help.
As Spingola explained, “It sounds like Lucio wanted to catch Delia in the act and, in fact, when questioned by police admitted to tape-recording her phone calls, but claims it was only to hear her conversations with her disapproving family.”
Another coworker remembered Lucio asking him for advice for a “friend” whose wife was cheating on him, allegedly asking “you think he should do something to her or kill her?”
“He just kept going on about it, ‘Well, what if he stabbed her and got rid of the knife? And he wore gloves and he got rid of the murder weapon?’” the witness recalled. “I didn’t even feel comfortable talking to him about it.”
Meanwhile, those who knew Delia described her as living in fear of her husband, claiming he was allegedly sexually abusive and overly controlling. One witness told investigators that Delia was never allowed to go out on her own and always had to have at least one of her children with her. According to that unidentified witness, Lucio allegedly went as far as smelling her private parts when she got home to make sure she hadn’t been with another man.
Another witness claimed Delia had been planning to leave the marriage.
As Siegler noted, “Not only could Lucio have been angry about Delia’s alleged affair, now we find out that Delia was also planning on moving her family back to Texas around Christmas time, which would have happened just weeks after she was killed.”
Finally, a male witness told investigators that after the van was discovered he went with Lucio to check out the van and allegedly heard Lucio say, “I didn’t want to do this” as they headed back to the car.
Confronting Lucio Lerma
After taking a complete look at the case and recreating the crime scene, the Cold Justice team believed that the evidence pointed toward Lucio Lerma and went to speak to him outside his home.
He maintained that after getting home from work, Delia went to the store on her own and never returned. He insisted that they were not having any problems in their marriage and denied reports that his wife was having an affair with his brother.
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t know,” he said, before concluding the conversation, “I don’t know what happened and so that’s what I’m saying.”
As the Cold Justice investigation wrapped up, South Bend Police detectives decided to bring the case to the prosecutor to ask for an arrest warrant against Lucio.
In a final meeting to share their progress with Burgos, Whitfield said that the prosecutor was “willing to take a really hard look into the case” in the months ahead.
“It means a lot to know that there’s people who still care,” Burgos said. “As a family, you think about your loved ones almost daily even when they’re gone, but it feels good to know that people still remember her.”
To delve into more mysterious cases this season, watch Cold Justice on Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.
