An ex-con strangled and decapitated a man who impregnated his wife while he was locked up in prison, authorities say.
The victim’s hands were chopped off, too — and one was later found by a 5-year-old boy in a mail box.
Anthony Newton, 45, is now charged in the gruesome murder of Ulisys “Cesar” Molina, whose burned, dismembered body was found in a vacant lot outside Las Vegas in 2017 after his family reported him missing, according to KLAS.
Newton, his brother-in-law and another woman allegedly lured Molina into the woman’s apartment around Christmas 2016 and killed him over the affair, a Nevada judge heard in court last week.
“This relationship is known by people in Mr. Molina’s family, and it’s not exactly a secret,” Newton’s lawyer, Pam Weckerly, said.
In a bizarre, grisly twist, one of Molina’s severed hands was found in a mailbox by a 5-year-old child almost two years later — although it’s unclear how the hand ended up there or if the family who owned the mailbox is connected to Molina.
Molina’s head and other hand were never found.
“We will not be able to answer for you how that hand ended up getting into that lady’s mailbox,” Weckerly said.
Newton is now facing the death penalty in a retrial, after a judge declared a mistrial in the original case in November when a co-defendant revealed Newton’s former prison time to jurors.
Newton’s wife, Jami Malaperdas, was engaged in an affair with Molina in 2015 while Newton was behind bars. It’s not clear what crime Newton committed to land him in prison.
Malaperdas became pregnant and later had an abortion, according to the defense.
Newton’s trial is expected to last about three weeks.
